Hate Growth

How can you tell when hate is growing stronger in your life?

It just takes one.
One person to hurt you to the core, to tend to the flames of anger in your heart... it just takes one.
And the moment I choose not to forgive, is the moment hate takes root & starts maneuvering in the recesses of my heart.  And it spreads and spreads until the roots are everywhere, choking out the life of love.
I might not even realize there is anything to forgive if the pain is from childhood. That kind of unforgiveness is tricky and not easy to realize. 
Parents & teachers, even the most well intentioned, can cause much damage in a child's heart... to the point that their child can grow to hate that gender.  Creating chauvinism & feminism.
The same can happen with race.  Something a child of one race can do to another in hate can cause a ripple to happen making the victimized child not only hate the "perpetrator" but also everyone of that same race.
The same can happen in social class, I'm pretty sure everyone has ideas about each social class including their own... and there is a reason for those ideas.

So the hate grows from not forgiving that one person, hating that one person, to hating all people who are remotely the same; by gender, race, or social status.  Then it spreads to your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, and so on... until someone is conscience enough of it to break the cycle.  I know adults who are chauvinists because their fathers were, who are racist because their parents were, who look down on other social classes because their parents did... and for no other reason.   AND it all started with that first person not forgiving someone who hurt them.

I'm Thankful for difficult circumstances that give rise to opportunities to give over chunks of hate to the Lord.  Those chunks aren't always on the surface, they come to the surface in circumstance and we can take joy in that because God seeks to mature us in Him. When those chunks rise to the surface of our hearts, it is painful and our first instinct is to get more angry and continue not forgiving... and the very idea of forgiving makes us cringe and want to fight, it makes us feel weak... but His grace is sufficient!
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
 We can forgive and heal and grow love in place of hate by the grace and power of God... completely saving our children from inheriting that same hate and instead leaving them with LOVE!!! Can you imagine?? So... welcome the very grace of God.  He can snuff out racism, sexism, social elitism, etc... He demolishes hate. What a great God we have!!