I had a friend who used to read a different version of the scriptures when he read through the Bible each year. I've been using Holman's translation lately. You have to love children to minister to children but if you are going to teach the life-giving scriptures need to filter, feed and fill every fiber of your being, myself included.

If you looked up stories about hate (see previous post), did you look up stories about love? mercy? compassion? If you do a word study, read the story around the passage. Or see how many stories you can think of where God demonstrated His love, mercy, compassion and that's what the scriptures say is happening. Where are the stories in scripture about hate? Check out those stories.

Ecclesiastes 3 is full of contrast - a time for this, a time for that ... not just love and hate. The scriptures confirm that, but have you ever taken each of these and searched the scriptures for the "when"?

birth/death
plant/uproot
kill/heal
tear down/built up
weep/laugh
mourn/dance
throw stones/gather stones (Jesus had a story about that)
embrace/avoid embracing
search/count as lost
keep/throw away
tear/sew
be silent/speak
love/hate
war/peace

How many of these can you find in the scriptures? How many did Jesus talk about? What did He say?

Should probably go back through and tag all the posts about creation...better still, I put CREATION in the FIND box... Lots!!

More about wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (HCSC). You can think deep about it or take it in it's simplist straight-forward form. Or make it a word study if you want. Remember to look at the stories.

I've said this before but I don't think wisdom is part of the curriculum anyplace. Who's the wisest person you know? How do you grow the kind of wisdom you see and hear in that person? Jesus' disciples only walked with Him for three years and he was the embodiment of the wisdom of God. I find it interesting that Jesus never said that about himself. (or at least I didn't find it) Paul did. And Paul wasn't in that group of disciples who walked with Him in the flesh.

Reminded me of the "Christ" part of St. Patrick's breastplate - a Christian Irish hymn.

from Ecclesiastes 1 (HCSB)

^9" What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
    ¹⁰ Can one say about anything,
    "Look, this is new"?
    It has already existed in the ages before us."

Ecclesiastes. One of the wisdom books. One of my favorites...
Did you ever ponder the book of Ecclesiastes with your kids? God commended Solomon for asking Him for wisdom when he could have asked for anything... and he wasn't that old, as I recall...

So...did you find stories about hate? Here! Bible Gateway. Six search pages plus some.  Holman translation. Look at the stories. See where God takes you....