Hate Me.

Friday, January 07, 2011
Hate Me. He’ll be heading to school in just a few minutes. It’s a warzone, a desolate place to him. He’s always been different, as long as he can remember. He thinks back to elementary school, when he tried his very best to fit in to the playground cliques, but failed. He thinks ahead to middle school, when he tried to find his niche at lunchtime to sit with, but failed. Then on to junior high, where he even tried the Christian club, but just wasn’t accepted. Now he’s in high school, and he’s just trying to survive each day until graduation. He’s trying.
She’ll be walking onto that same campus in just a few minutes. She’s popular, and to the eyes of the world she’s got it all. Her parents have plenty of money and the biggest house on their block. She drives a brand new car they bought her for her sweet 16. Everyone’s jealous, or so she thinks. Sure, sometimes she can be a little hard to get along with, but isn’t everyone at times? It just seems like every time she turns around, her friends are talking about her. When will she ever experience what a true friendship is like, one that never talks about her behind her back or hurts her like this?
Hatred. Walk onto a public school campus, and within the first few minutes, if you’ll pay attention, you’ll see it. You’ll feel it. It’s palpable. You can almost taste it. And I think there’s a very real reason why hatred is so real on these campuses. When you remove God from a particular setting, it leaves a void. And the natural substitute for love is hate. The enemy jumps at the chance to saturate people’s lives with hate. And that hate is all too real for students that live in the scenarios like above.
There are students that walk onto their school campuses each day that feel as though they’re wearing a sign on their back that says, “Hate me.” After all, that’s what they keep getting from everyone, or so it seems. Whether they’re the popular kid, or the outcast – so many, at times, feel this is the truth for them. This morning God has been breaking my heart for these students, for some reason more than any other it seems. This is so often how He calls me.
I want to be His love to these students. I want to show them that there’s a God that loves them, no matter what people may do, sure. But I also want them to see that there ARE some people that can, in fact, love them too. Their life isn’t pointless, and it doesn’t have to be miserable. That the purpose that a relationship with Christ brings also brings with it joy and passion for living. I want to show them that.
And I want you to, as well. So today, look around you. If you’re at school, watch for the folks that are wearing that invisible sign, and replace it with “Love me.” Show them Him by simple acts of kindness or compassion. If you’re at work, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to see someone wearing this sign, too. It may show itself differently, but the need is just as huge.
Join me in showing Him to them – and proving that LOVE wins over HATRED any day of the week. That’s what the cross proves. Now let your life prove it too.


That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake

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