Have you ever noticed how quickly hate can take root, and how much damage it causes once it does? Hate divides us from one another. It strips people of their humanity. It feeds on fear and pretends to offer strength, but all it ever leaves behind is brokenness.
Scripture points us to a deeper truth: hate is not the strongest force in the world. God’s love is far stronger. Love is not simply something God does; it is who God is. Yes, “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and redemption flows from a love that refuses to give up on us or on the world God made. That love is revealed most clearly in Jesus Christ.
Jesus lived in a world marked by violence, injustice, and deep division, yet he chose to love even when hate had taken hold. Christ’s love was not weak or passive. He spoke truth boldly. He confronted injustice. He challenged systems that harmed the vulnerable. Yet he never stopped seeing people as beloved children of God, created in God's image. Jesus held (and still holds) truth and grace together, justice and mercy side by side.
Jesus’ life taught us lessons of love even when faced with hatred and fear up close. When confronted by enemies, Jesus chose compassion. When betrayed, he chose forgiveness. When nailed to a cross by human cruelty, he prayed, “Father, forgive them.” Hate tried to silence Jesus, but love raised him from the grave. Yes, Jesus’ death and resurrection proclaims this enduring truth: love is stronger than hate.
As followers of Christ, we are called to live out that same love. When the world encourages us to harden our hearts, Christ invites us to soften them instead. When fear urges us to pull away, Christ calls us closer to draw near and be filled with his love for humanity. When hatred demeans, divides, and diminishes, Christ teaches us to love anyway, even when that love is costly and hard. This kind of love does not ignore pain or excuse harm. It does not pretend that wounds are not real. Rather, it trusts that God’s love is powerful enough to heal what hate has broken and strong enough to transform even the hardest of hearts.
In a wounded and divided world, choosing love is an act of courageous faith. It is a declaration that we believe God is still at work among us. It is a witness that resurrection is possible, not only someday, but even now. Hate may be loud, but a God-shaped love endures. Hate may wound, but a God-shaped love heals.
Indeed, the love of God revealed in Christ is the only force strong enough to overcome hate and stop its spread. May that love continue to overflow from us, Union family, as we seek to welcome all, serve all, and faithfully do the work God has given us to do together.
Jesus loves you, Union Family, and I do too!