It’s one of my core memories: I was sitting at the piano in our living room when my mom walked in and asked, “Jamin, did you just tell your brother you hated him?” I nodded and was sent to my room without much discussion.
I had been sent to my room plenty as a kid, but this one was different. I hadn’t realized I had done anything worth being sent to my room. Perhaps the Holy Spirit co-opted my consequence because I walked away from that moment with a mission to erase the word hate from my perspective and my heart.
Jesus recognized that the seeds of hate can only bear bad fruit because they’re of a different kingdom and taught by a different king. Jesus tells us that if such seeds are found in us, we’re accountable to the whole plant. It doesn’t matter if we’ve never murdered anyone, because that’s ultimately the rotten fruit of the seed we’ve allowed into our life. Fortunately, the Spirit will help us find those seeds and uproot them if we let him.
Jamin Bradley 
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