Love vs. Hatred—And the Winner Is?

There are two kinds of pride: negative pride and positive pride. This essay references negative pride, also known as “selfishness” or “meism.” Positive pride is the pride we take in working hard to do our best while loving our neighbor.

Enter the deadly sin of pride.

Love is all about giving, isn’t it? Christ loved us and GAVE His life for us. “No greater love is there than to lay down your life for a friend.” Now that is some serious giving. Most followers of Christ do their feeble best to follow His message. But: enter the deadly sin of pride. That demon can grab us in its powerful grip and, frequently, never let go. The great sin of pride is characterized by all those whose persona reflects words such as stuck-up, egotistic, aloof, cocky, dismissive, superior, or pretentious. The list can go on and on and on. It can be summed up by the phrase, “loving oneself more than anyone or anything else.”

Today it seems that pride has filled the hearts of many to a point where people, so consumed, now HATE unconditionally. What many of them hate most is one word and what it means. That word is made up of only two letters. That word is NO. They want no one to dare tell them what to do or how to behave. They have embraced secularism (defined as a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship).

Pride can destroy so much

How sad it is that pride can destroy so much, from family relationships to friendships to nations. Many people, when their “personhood” is offended by someone else, will instantly reject any love within them in exchange for a blast of using four-letter vitriol to express themselves. And that may be the precursor of an actual physical attack against their newfound enemy. The love they may have had vanished instantly. Was it even there to begin with?

Feigned love can vanish like a puff of smoke in a windstorm. Have you seen the “love” extended by political candidates toward each other? Have you noticed how it seems to come from those who have fallen in love with themselves over all else? Part of God’s gift of free will is allowing each and every one of us to make choices. Some of us can forgive and turn the other cheek. Others—no way.

They even reject natural law

Here is their problem: the Judeo/Catholic/Christian belief system has boundaries. Christianity tells us what God wants us to do and what NOT to do … why, the NERVE of Him! So, many secularists (not all) take it to another level in their selfish requests to abolish the influence of religions that have the audacity to say NO to certain behaviors. They even reject natural law in favor of their own personal agendas.

Catholics and other Christians are the most persecuted people on earth. Why is that? Why is there such hatred by so many toward something that is all about goodness and love? All Christians (including 1.2 billion Catholics and 800 million Protestants of varied denominations) follow Jesus Christ. That is 2 billion people (or two thousand million) who follow His teachings and His promise of Eternal Life. What is the crux of His teachings? Well, now, the bottom line is this: loving your neighbor, and forgiveness. Yeah, I know that many who proclaim to follow Jesus do not even attempt to Love their neighbor or forgive anyone for anything. How powerful is the sin of pride?

How can love and lorgiveness be things to hate?

The prideful rant against Christmas, which is all about giving. They rail on about using the name of God in schools and at sporting events. They want crosses at cemeteries taken down from the graves of fallen soldiers. In many cases, those who hate Christians kill them. Men, women, and children die every day in different parts of the world simply because they are followers of Jesus. How can love and forgiveness be things to hate? How powerful is the sin of pride?

Has anything changed?

Nothing has changed since Jesus walked the earth two thousand years ago. He preached Love & Forgiveness , so they beat Him, tortured Him, and killed Him. The loving crowds who screamed “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday turned fickle and screamed “Crucify Him” the following Friday. The list of people murdered for following Jesus over the centuries (including His own apostles) is countless. Being a Catholic and Christian was never supposed to be easy. Jesus Christ did nothing but love us, each and every one of us. Look what happened to Him. How powerful is the sin of pride?

Read the First Letter of John

So, during the trek toward Election Day 2024, the question to be considered might be this. What is love? The answer can be found in the Bible in the First Letter of John:

We have come to know and believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in Him. (1 John 4:16)

Sadly, the war on Love increases in intensity.

LarryPeterson

Larry is a Catholic/Christian author and blogger and posts weekly commentary. His work has appeared in such publications as Zenit from Rome, Aleteia, New Evangelists, Top Catholic Blogs, Big Pulpit, Catholic365.com and others. His first children's picture book, "Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes" was published in 2011. In 2012, his full-length novel, "The Priest and the Peaches" was released. His second novel, "The Demons of Abadon", was released in the spring of 2016. Larry’s latest novel, “Horizon Homeless” was released in ebook format in May of 2017 and the paperback followed on July 27, 2017. Larry belongs to the Catholic Writer’s Guild, The Catholic Writer’s Society, The Knights of Columbus, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He has been an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for over twenty years bringing communion to the homebound and hospitalized. He lives in Pinellas Park, Florida and his kids and six grandchildren all live within three miles of each other. His first wife died of cancer in 2003. He remarried four years later and became the primary caregiver for his wife, Martha who came down with Non-Hodgins Lymphoma in 2011. The cancer was in remission when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in October of 2014. Sadly and unexpectedly, Martha passed away on March 27, 2017. The writer says, "God has me where he needs me and I try my best to make Him proud. Larry’s blog site is http://www.slipperywillie.blogspot.com You can find more at www.larrypeterson-author.com