Why Hate?
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about hate. I’m not talking about “I hate broccoli.” I’m talking about pure hatred.
Hate takes up so much energy, and it depletes the soul in the process. It is impossible to hate and be happy or content. More importantly, it is impossible to be filled with hate and also be filled with God’s will for us. We may be given reasons to hate. We may be wronged, injured, crushed by another. But does that allow us to hate, does that free us from Christ’s message of love and forgiveness?
There is so much evil in the world that sometimes it is hard not to pull a big old blanket of hate around us. Evil has been placed on this earth in the forms of despots such as Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden, just to present a quick list. But our hatred of what they do or have done must be tempered by pity for the soul that is lost, for we are all God’s creation, even those who pour their evil on the world.
And what of hatred that is built on nothing more than the color of someone’s skin, or their manner of worship? Why?
God hates sin, there is no doubt about that. But He, in his infinite wisdom and being, loves. He chastizes, He convicts. But He loves us all, in spite of our sins. He weeps for those who don’t know Him, or who turn their backs on Him, or who crusade in His name to commit sin.
We all have things we disagree with. I am a Christian, and I believe that unless you believe in Christ as the Son of God, accept Him as your savior, you are lost. But nowhere do I find in God’s Holy Word that I am to hate those who don’t know Him! I am to love them, pray for them, go to them.
Hate the sin, love the sinner.
Leave a Reply