A Nation of Hate, A Kingdom of Love

By David Bragg

    In an "unscientific study" conducted over Instagram, Matt Shirley was curious about the rivalries one state feels towards another. He asked his 323,000 followers to respond which state their state hates the most. Some are expected …

Illinois hates Indiana.
Missouri and Kansas hate each other.

So, also, do North and South Dakota.

Others are more surprising ...

California, New Mexico, Alaska and Oklahoma hate Texas.
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado all hate California.

And then there are these two ...

New Jersey hates ALL the other states.
Florida hates ... Florida! (Robert Gearty, Fox News)

    Sometimes it does feel like we are living in a world of hate. Tempers flare with little if any provocation. Road rage, workplace violence, domestic abuse, all of these and other expressions of anger simmer just below the surface of polite society.
    How different the world would be if it learned to love as Jesus teaches us to love. His was an unselfish, generous, compassionate kind of love that put the needs of others before His own.
    Thankfully, we, the church, have Jesus' example to guide us in love and to learn from His perfect example to not allow anger and hate to rule our lives.

- David Bragg serves as one of the ministers at the Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC and is co-editor of BulletinGold. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.nwchurchofchrist.com/ or his blog: http://davidbragg.blogspot.com/