During my 22 short years on this planet, one thing has become clear to me and that is the large amount of hate that exists today. People hate those that have different interests, different beliefs, different styles, different hobbies, different skin colors, and anything else that is not like them. People hate those that are different from them. As a white, Christian male, I have decided that I refuse to follow this example. I refuse to hate. Instead, I choose to love. I choose to follow the teachings of Christ and love all people.

I refuse to hate black people.

As stated before, I am a white male and I refuse to hate black people. Galatians 3:28 reads, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all one in Jesus Christ. Christ doesn’t see us by our skin color because we are seen as one in him. Genesis 1:26 tells us that God made us in His image and likeness. He did not just create only Caucasian people to be like Him. All people are made in His image AND likeness. Also, Christ tells us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ just as He does. Jesus loves unconditionally and our love should be the same. I will not hate someone based upon their skin color.

I refuse to hate police officers.

I refuse to hate the people that are the first responders in an emergency. I will not hate someone who willingly puts their life on the line to protect me and those that I care about. There have recently been many generalized negative comments about law enforcement based on a few officers that haven’t made good decisions. I will not let the few corrupt officers cloud my judgment for the entire police force. Romans 13:1-2 reads, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist were established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

God placed authorities above us and to rebel against them is to rebel against God. I will trust in God and obey my authority that he has placed before me. I pray that all authority glorifies God with the blessing that they have been given. The blessing of authority.

I refuse to hate gay people.

John 8:2-11 reads, “At dawn, he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now, what do you say?”
The Pharisees were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,”
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
This brings two applicable points. We are not to judge someone for their sins, but rather help and love them. Every person sins and no sin is worse than another. All sin is the same. Homosexuality is a sin. Leviticus 18:22 clearly tells us that it is a sin. Nowhere in the Bible are we told to hate those who are homosexual. Rather, we are told to love them and do our best to point them towards Jesus in a loving way. I will not hate someone because of their sins. I am a sinner too. I will not hate the sinner but rather I will hate the sin.

I refuse to hate Muslims.

I will not hate those that practice the religion of Islam. I will not refer to Muslims as terrorists. Muslims are not terrorists. Terrorists are terrorists. Terrorism is not a religion. I will not practice the religion of Islam, but I will be respectful to those who do. I will love Muslims and show them what Christianity is like- nonjudgmental and loving. I will show them the love of the Jesus that I believe in and pray that they one day will be able to discover the full truth, as I have. I will not condemn them for believing something differently than I.

John 3:16-19 reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

It is not our job to condemn the world but to do our best to point people to Christ so that they can one day meet our Lord in Heaven. Romans 12:19 reads, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” Christ calls us to love all people, not just the people who are the same as we are. We are to even love those who are different from us. This is something that is easier said than done but, what a better time than to start now when the world seems to be full of hate.

My name is Trenton Osborn and I refuse to hate people. I choose to love as Christ does.