Thought of the Day 04.17.08

I was raised by a mom who was very liberal, both politically and theologically. She was actually more disheartened by my conservatism than my atheism. In outgrowing liberalism, it became a passion of mine to show how stupid or evil liberals were. But then one day I realized that I had built a significant part of my identity around hating the people who reminded me of who I used to be, as though I could prove I never was this awful thing by constantly attacking anyone who still was.

Once I forgave myself for having been wrong before, I also stopped hating those who still were. It became possible to have civil discussions with them and even learn things from them I would otherwise have missed. Though being anti-whatever-you-were-before is useful for initial separation, real health comes when you don’t feel so threatened by the old thing that you must hate in order to feel secure.

And when you reach that point, you might actually start to effectively minister to people who still are where you were. Remember, God opens our eyes so we can turn around and do the same for others, not so we can hate them for still being blind.

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