Have you ever wondered what love and hate look like?
Over the past decade, love and hate have modified its descriptions in keeping with the times causing it to take many different forms and variations but one thing I noticed is that no matter what it looks like it follows the same process.
I heard this analogy about love and hate through a metaphor of cutting and watering trees that gave me a little insight on the process of love and hate.
It goes like this:
Hate’s consequences are fast and immediate. That’s why hate seems to be more powerful. For example, when you chop down a tree, the consequences of chopping down that tree are immediate. You see the fall happening right in front of you. The chopping of the tree is driven by brute force that breaks the tree down from the outside in. This outlines the process of hate. In this case chopping the tree is considered hate.
Love’s consequences are slow and gradual. That’s why love seems to be weak because its effects take time to manifest. For example, when you water a tree, the consequences of watering that tree are slow and gradual. You will most likely not see any instant change as it takes time for the water to be absorbed into the roots, giving the tree its nutrients. This outlines the process of love. In this case watering a tree is considered love.
Perhaps we can see the differences in love and hate through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus’s death on the cross was a hate crime. His actions did not warrant the consequences of death on a cross, yet He bore it for us. His crucifixion was said to last 6 hours (Beginning at 9am according to Mark 15:22-25, and ending around 3pm according to Luke 23:44-46). This was actually abnormal as most crucifixion of the day lasted 2-3 days. So Jesus’ death was relatively fast and immediate for the time. This follows the process of hate being one of immediate consequences.
So the question then becomes why did it take 3 days for Jesus to be resurrected? Wouldn’t the sting of death be less painful if He rose the next day?
I don’t know the answers but perhaps it can be found in the process of love. You see by nature the process of love takes time for its effects to be seen. What if the reason it took Jesus 3 days was because the resurrection process was fueled by love and driven by the same process: slow and gradual.
One of the most interesting things about dying plants and trees is that, if the roots are still healthy there is hope for the dying plant and tree to be revived and come back to life.
Could it be that Jesus’ physical body died on that cross but His spirit that was rooted in God was still alive. Through the resurrecting power that is fueled by the love of God, Jesus’ dead body was revived.
1 Peter 3:18-20 (NIV)
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive,[a] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
There is a lot to take away from understanding the processes of Love and Hate. One point I want to extract is that Love is and always will be more powerful than Hate. Yes, Love is slow and gradual but as we can see through the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the Love of God, it has proven more powerful than the sting of death.
For those who are facing the consequences of hate and feel like they are losing the battle, I pray that your roots would be so deep in God that just a cup of the living water would be able to revive you. I pray that you would hold on to God and remember the process of love.