So Much Hate, Not Enough Forgiveness: Have We Lost the Christian Way?

So Much Hate, Not Enough Forgiveness: Have We Lost the Christian Way?

Beloved brothers and sisters,

We live in a world that feels heavy.

Everywhere we turn, we see division. We hear anger. We witness cruelty. We scroll through endless streams of outrage. Families are breaking apart over pride. Friendships are being destroyed over offense. Communities are being torn apart by bitterness. Nations are trembling under the weight of hostility. Even within the Church—within the very body that was meant to reflect the love of Christ—we sometimes see judgment where there should be mercy, condemnation where there should be compassion, and hatred where there should be grace.

And so we must ask ourselves a painful but necessary question:

Have we lost the Christian way?

Because the Christian way was never meant to be the way of hatred. It was never meant to be the way of revenge. It was never meant to be the way of unforgiveness.

The Christian way has always been the way of the cross.

And the cross was forgiveness.

When Jesus hung upon that cross, beaten beyond recognition, mocked by the crowds, betrayed by friends, abandoned by many, He did not cry out for vengeance.

He did not say,“Father, punish them.”He did not say,“Father, destroy them.”He did not say,“Father, make them suffer as I have suffered.”

Instead, with nails in His hands and love still in His heart, He said:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Think about that.

Jesus offered forgiveness in the middle of His pain.He offered mercy in the middle of His suffering.He offered love in the face of hatred.

And if we call ourselves followers of Christ, then we must ask: How can we cling to hatred when our Savior clung to forgiveness?

Hatred is becoming common.

People hate those who disagree with them.People hate those who wounded them.People hate strangers they have never met.People hate because they were hated.People hate because hate has become easier than understanding.

But hatred has never healed a soul.

Hatred may feel powerful in the moment, but it poisons the one carrying it. It burns the vessel that contains it. It hardens the heart. It blinds the spirit. It silences compassion. It destroys peace.

Some people think hatred protects them.But hatred does not protect.Hatred imprisons.

There are people sitting in church pews every Sunday while carrying prisons in their hearts.

Prisons built from old wounds. Prisons built from betrayal.Prisons built from disappointment.Prisons built from pain.

And many have become so comfortable with their chains that they no longer realize they are bound.

Forgiveness, however, is freedom.

Forgiveness is not weakness.Forgiveness is strength under control.Forgiveness is not pretending the wound did not happen.Forgiveness is not calling evil good.Forgiveness is not excusing sin.

Forgiveness is choosing to surrender judgment to God.

It is saying:“I will not let what happened to me become what lives in me.”“I will not allow bitterness to replace the Spirit.”“I will not let another person’s sin turn my heart cold.”

Forgiveness does not always restore trust.Forgiveness does not always restore relationships.But forgiveness restores the soul.

And some of us need that restoration.

The truth is, many people want the mercy of God for themselves while refusing to give mercy to others.

We pray:“Lord, forgive me.”But struggle to say,“I forgive them.”

We want grace for our failures.But justice for everyone else’s failures.

We want understanding for our mistakes.But punishment for theirs.

And yet Jesus taught us to pray:“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

That means forgiveness is not optional for the believer. It is essential.

Because forgiven people are meant to become forgiving people.

Some may say,“But you don’t know what they did.”“You don’t know how deeply I was hurt.”“You don’t know how unfair it was.”

And that may be true.

The wounds are real.The pain is real.The betrayal is real.

God never asks us to pretend pain does not exist.But He does ask us not to let pain become our identity.

Because when pain becomes identity, bitterness becomes religion.

And bitterness can hide itself behind spiritual language.

Sometimes people do not call it hatred.They call it “discernment.”They call it “righteous anger.”They call it “standing for truth.”

But sometimes what we call righteousness is simply resentment dressed in religious clothing.

And God sees the difference.

Man looks at outward appearance.God looks at the heart.

The Christian way was never simply about being right. It was about being like Christ.

And Christ loved people others despised.

He touched lepers.He ate with sinners.He defended the broken.He welcomed the outcast.He restored the fallen.He forgave the guilty.

And what if the greatest tragedy of our time is not that the world has become darker—but that some believers have forgotten they were called to be light?

Because light does not curse the darkness.Light shines into it.

Love does not mirror hatred. Love overcomes it.

Forgiveness does not deny evil.Forgiveness defeats evil by refusing to become evil.

That is the Christian way.

Some of us have become more influenced by culture than by Christ.

Culture says:“Cancel them.”Christ says:“Pray for them.”

Culture says:“Destroy your enemies.”Christ says:“Love your enemies.”

Culture says:“Get even.”Christ says:“Turn the other cheek.”

Culture says:“Never let them forget.”Christ says:“I will remember your sins no more.”

And somewhere along the way, many believers have started sounding more like the world than like Jesus.

That should trouble us.

Because we were never called to blend in.We were called to stand apart.

Not by louder judgment.But by deeper love.

The world expects hate.The world understands revenge.The world knows resentment.

But radical forgiveness?That confuses the world.

When someone forgives what seems unforgivable, people notice.When someone loves when hatred was expected, people notice.When someone blesses instead of curses, people notice.

Why?

Because that kind of heart cannot be explained by human nature. It can only be explained by the presence of God.

Perhaps the Church today does not need more noise.Perhaps it needs more repentance.

Perhaps we do not need more arguments.Perhaps we need more humility.

Perhaps we do not need more outrage.Perhaps we need more tears.

Perhaps we do not need more people defending Christianity.Perhaps we need more people living it.

Because the world is not starving for more religious performance.The world is starving for authentic love.

And authentic love always leaves room for forgiveness.

So today I ask you:Who do you need to forgive?

Who still lives rent-free in your wounded heart?Whose name still stirs anger in your soul?What pain are you still feeding instead of releasing?

Because sometimes the person who hurt you years ago has moved on—but the wound remains because you have kept it alive.

And God is saying today: Let it go.

Not because they deserved forgiveness.But because you deserve peace.

Not because what happened was acceptable.But because your soul matters.

Not because justice does not matter.But because vengeance belongs to God.

And God can handle what you cannot.

The Christian way has not disappeared.

But in some hearts, it has been neglected. In some churches, it has been overshadowed. In some lives, it has been forgotten.

Yet it can still be found.

It is found every time someone chooses mercy. It is found every time someone chooses grace. It is found every time someone chooses compassion. It is found every time someone chooses forgiveness over hate.

Because every act of forgiveness is a reflection of Calvary.

And every time we forgive,we look a little more like Jesus.

So no, beloved—the Christian way is not gone.

But it must be reclaimed.

Reclaimed in our homes.Reclaimed in our churches.Reclaimed in our conversations.Reclaimed in our hearts.

Because this world already has enough hate.

What it desperately needsis people who still know how to forgive.

Amen.