If you know me personally, you’d be surprised that I am even entertaining the topic of “Haters.” I am known by my friends for despising this entire discussion. I think people have a lot less haters than they think, and I also think people cheat themselves out of meaningful relationships because they are fearful of , or assume people are “hating.” 
Yet, as I read and wrote tonight’s Scripture passage, found in Luke 23: 33-38, I was inspired to dedicate this one discussion to the “Haters”, after all, they do exist, and I’ve never argued that.
In the text, we find Jesus being Crucified. In the midst of being tortured and mocked, He isn’t feeling sorry for Himself, and He is not angry at the people who are responsible for His Crucifixion . Instead, He concerns Himself with their well-being. And instead of cursing them, He prays,
Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).
only imagine that it was much worse than what was depicted on the screen. Tonight’s passage is from Luke 23:26-30. I read it several times focusing on each verse. I kept coming back to verse 26,
By now most of us have heard the popular saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and many of us can testify that there is truth to those words. But, Did you know that comparison is a choice? Did you know that we can choose to admire, congratulate, cheer on, and even be inspired by others, WITHOUT comparing? 
I recently read a quote that said, “Writing is somewhere between torture and fun.” I chuckled to myself because my initial thought was, “Ain’t that the truth!” I have been challenged to the max this year with actually PUBLISHING blog posts! Over the past 77 days, I have been pretty consistent with writing privately. I have even created complete outlines for blog posts, but the challenge has been actually getting those ideas from paper to a published blog! What I have realized is, I have been putting unnecessary pressure on myself to be “PERFECT.” 
Hope Notes 