Est 5:9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.

Esther began her plan to save the Jews. But, first she needed to get the king’s attention. She showed courage in her willingness to appear before the king without being summoned by him. Well, she got the king’s attention. The king, sensing she had something to ask from him, asked her to make her request known and he would give her anything, even half his kingdom (v.3). The wise Esther did not immediately make her request known. The king must have trusted Haman a lot to give him so much honour. So, it’s not so simple as to just tell the king to kill Haman. Esther knew she must let Haman dig his own grave. She invited the king and Haman to an exclusive banquet she had prepared for them (v.4). At the banquet, King Ahasuerus repeated the offer to Queen Esther. Esther’s request was the same: Come back tomorrow night for another banquet with Haman (v.5-8). Haman left the king's palace that day very happy and in a good mood. But when he saw Mordecai at the king's gate, he became very angry (v.9). I shall stop here and talk about Haman. What happened to him? He was so happy one moment and angry the next; why? Well, he had a heart problem. His heart was filled with hatred for Mordecai. Hate consumes a person, affecting his health, sleep, relationships, emotion, and happiness. Hate does nothing to the one who is being hated. Hate is a poison that kills only the person who has it. The person being hated is sleeping and happy while the hater is miserable and bitter. Hate is destructive to the hater. When there is hatred in our hearts, we lose the peacefulness of our minds and the joy of our souls. We can’t also move on with the good and normal activities in our lives. Is that a life anyone really wants? HOW CAN WE STOP HATING AND START LOVING? 1. Show Compassion. Why is that person irritating you? Why is he behaving in such a manner towards you? Perhaps if we try to think less of our own hurt and more of that person, we may come to an understanding why he is behaving that way. We may also realise that he, too, is suffering. If we will only put ourselves in their shoes, we will understand their pain and hurting, and our hearts will soften; that’s how we can stop hating and start loving: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). 2. Love. Love is patient. Love is longsuffering (1 Corinthians 13:4). How long can you suffer? Love says: “Very long.” We can stop hating people by adding more love into our lives. If people hurt us, restrain ourselves from hurting them back: “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39). Do not be easily angered and think of revenge. Take control of our emotions and replace revenge with love. 3. Do Acts Of Kindness. Love is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4). If they are rude to us, don’t be rude to them too. Instead, be kind and polite to them. An act of kindness can melt a stony heart: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” (Romans 12:20). 4. Be Forgiving. To forgive is to let go of the hurt that is in us. When we don’t forgive, we are not hurting the other person; we are only hurting ourselves. Hence, we are doing ourselves a great favour when we forgive. It does not matter if they say they are sorry or they ask us to forgive them; we will do it because we want to move on in life: “So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him” (Genesis 50:17). Forgive and the hate will go away. 5. Be Spiritual. Most importantly, we want to be like Christ. We want to grow as Christians. We don’t want hate to hinder us from becoming the kind of Christians God wants us to be: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). Hate belongs to the devil; we want to be children of God (1 John 3:10). Those are just some of the pointers we can consider. Of course there are many more. But those are enough for today. Love one another.