I pray each person will ask God to search their own heart and point out any hate or resentment within it.
I’m not saying this from a pulpit looking down, I’m saying it because I’m doing it too. Hate is sneaky. Resentment hides in the cracks. Sometimes it shows up in the words we post, sometimes in the silence we keep, sometimes in the way we judge people who are different from us.
I’ve had to face it in my own life. I’ve carried grudges that felt justified. I’ve replayed memories of people who hurt me and thought, “they don’t deserve forgiveness.” But the truth is, those thoughts only poisoned me, they didn’t free me.
The Bible says in Psalm 139:23–24:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.”
That’s my prayer right now. Not, “God, fix them,” but “God, search me.”
Lesson 1: Hate Is a Silent Poison
Hate rarely shouts its way in. Most of the time it slips through a crack, disguising itself as “justice” or “being right.” Before long, it hardens our hearts and blinds us to people’s humanity.
Jesus didn’t just call us to love when it’s easy. He called us to love when it’s impossible without Him. “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44).
That’s not natural. It’s supernatural. And it only starts when we let God expose what’s hiding inside us.
Lesson 2: Resentment Chains You, Not Them
When I replayed the faces of people who hurt me, I thought I was holding them accountable. In reality, I was chaining myself to bitterness.
Resentment doesn’t punish the one who hurt you, it poisons the one who holds it. Ephesians 4:31–32 says: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger… Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or excusing. It means refusing to let the poison win.
Lesson 3: Revival Starts With Me
It’s easy to point fingers at culture, politics, or “those people over there.” But Psalm 139 doesn’t say, “God, search them.” It says, “Search me.”
Every real move of God starts with a heart that’s open and honest. Not polished. Not pretending. Just raw and surrendered.
If we want to see healing in our world, it has to begin with healing in our own hearts.
My Prayer for You (and Me)
If we’re ever going to be a people of healing instead of division, it has to start here, with hearts laid bare before God, willing to let Him expose the places we’d rather keep hidden.
So here’s my prayer today:
God, search me. Dig deep into the corners of my heart. Rip out the roots of hate, resentment, and bitterness that I’ve let stay too long. Heal the places I’ve tried to protect with silence. Don’t let me be another voice of division, make me a vessel of healing. Start it in me.
I’m asking Him to do it in me. Will you ask Him to do it in you too?
✍️ Chris Benton
Author of Rising from the RUINS
