Introduction
This paper can be considered an extension of my paper on Good and Evil (click here) but it was not intended as such. Read both and perhaps get a little better understanding of how the world thinks today. Many of us who consider ourselves Christian need a better understanding of both of these powerful emotions; Good & Evil and, Love & Hate.
Love & Hate
Love and Hate, are two absolutes at the opposite end of the spectrum. According to the Bible Love is everything positive. God Himself is the absolute epitome of love. Without God, there is no love. Without Love, there is no God.
On the other hand, hate was born in the heavens of self-actualization stemming from disobedience to God. Satan, himself, is the opposite of God, hence everything negative and, the epitome of hate. For mankind, there are degrees of each and both are a choice. Let’s explore these concepts further to understand their origin and purpose better.
Love
Love makes you soar, ascend, and rise to the highest you can be. You do indeed rise on eagle wings (Isaiah 40:31). Always going up toward the heavens and reaching out to God Himself. Love is everything good but mankind has perverted love and made it a self-seeking pleasure which was never our creator’s intention.
Love, An Image of God
“Those who are loved by God, let his love continually pour from you to one another because God is love. Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of him. The one who doesn’t love has yet to know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7,8) TPT
OK, God is the image of love and believers always strive to reach this image. In all this striving, however, we fail. We can’t do it, we need help. This help comes in the image of God Himself through the Holy Spirit. Our lives were bought at an ultimately high price. “Let go (of self) and let God”, should be our motto. There is no other way. Seeking true love can only come from the Holy Spirit. Everything else is a conformity to the world’s system established by the god of this world, Satan himself.
“Have you forgotten that your body is now the sacred temple of the Spirit of Holiness, who lives in you? You don’t belong to yourself any longer, for the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside your sanctuary. You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood, so by all means, then, use your body to bring glory to God!” (1 Corinthians 16:19-20) TPT
Today the world tries to love everything. We love our neighbors, a piece of pie, your dog, your BFF, the way you feel, an article of clothing, and, the list goes on. The bottom line is we can’t love anything incapable of loving us back. For us to love something, that object of our love must be able to reciprocate love, even if it doesn’t. Something that has life, as in a human, or an animal yes, they can love us. A lifeless article, (a piece of apple pie, really) no. Love is not static, it is alive. This is reflected in God our Father’s love for Jesus and the resulting power of that love is reflected in the Holy Spirit. Several of my previous papers show why this is so. Read The Mystery of the Divine Trinity Revealed (click here).
Sex, Love’s Perversion
Sex and sexual feelings were developed by God. There is a purpose for sex. The Catholic Church at one time (when I was in the seminary studying to be a priest) saw sex only as a means and reason for procreation. Later it modified its view to include pleasure also. Thinking that if there was no pleasure in sex no one would procreate. Nevertheless, sex and pleasure have become perverted from God’s intentions. However, know this, sex is not love. Few people who talk of love know what they are talking about. In today’s world love means: sex, feeling good, and being the “soul mate” of another is a term often used. Most advertisers use sex as their driving force. I remember seeing advertising images of “sexy” half-clothed models draped over rubber car tires. Sex sells. Sex is an extremely powerful force and I can’t emphasize this enough.
Hate
Hate, love’s counterpart, is also an extremely powerful emotion. Hate is like gravity, always pulling you down to your lowest emotion, condemning that which does not go your way. It often leads to depression, anger, violent outbursts, and, anxiety among other mental conditions. Hate leads to violence and ultimate condemnation of body and soul alike.
Hate manifests itself in many ways: Bitterness, Disdain, Revulsion, Contempt, Loathing, Jealousy, Hostility, Revenge, Murder, Unforgiveness, and the list goes on. Many of these emotions are fostered by fear, ignorance, defense, envy, projection, rationalization, and more. The word Hate is often passed around lightheartedly like candy. As in, “Oh’ I hate that”, “Don’t you just hate that”, “I hate you”, “I hate them”, and so on. If the word were understood in its proper context it would not be used so carelessly.
Types of Hate (click here for references and more information)
1. Internalized Hate; is a form of self-hate that arises as a by-product of systemic hate. Internalized hatred can occur when an individual from a minority community experiences a form of broadly defined hate so pervasively that those perceptions of inferiority become internalized as their internal narrative.
2. General Hate; Hate that’s directed externally is typically caused by a personal threat or experience that triggers a strong sense of fear, mistrust, loss of power, loss of control, or vulnerability. The feeling of hatred can be specific or more general. You may hate your alcoholic father because of how he treats you when he’s drinking, or you may hate alcohol in general, because of the role it’s played in your experiences.
3. Self-Hate; Causes all kinds of problems. When we become intensely critical of ourselves, we may experience self-hatred, in which the narratives we tell about ourselves are saturated with negativity and contempt. Self-hate may arise when you fail to meet expectations you or others have for yourself. It can be based on things like your appearance, your performance at school or work, or the way you interact and relate with others. It may not have any basis in reality.
Regarding Self-Hate we must always remember we are “…fearfully and wondrously made” as the scriptures say. Read Psalms 139:14 in the The Peoples Translation (TPT).
“I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me, Lord! You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place, carefully, skillfully shaping me from nothing to something. You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me was already recorded in your book. Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me.”
4. Systemic Hate; There are countless situations around the world in which a culture or group views another culture or group as a threat. The feelings of hate aren’t necessarily directed at a specific person but at the group as a whole. Racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, bigotry, and homophobia are examples of systemic hate. This hate is founded on a diffuse sense that members of a target group are inferior, threatening, or have negative intentions,
How to Cope with Hate
You will never be able to cope with hate within yourself. Only through prayer and Godly counsel can you overcome. Confess and seek forgiveness. There is no other way to fight this emotion. It is demonic and must be excised. You can not hate on the one hand and love on the other or you will become a bitter hypocrite losing your peace and even your salvation if not remedied.
If the hate you experience is coming from another you must remember that you are not responsible for the emotions of another any more than you are responsible for the sins of another. Everyone has “Free Will” to make their own choices. Hate is sinful. Forgive and pray that the wrongdoer repent. Don’t look for forgiveness. Unless forgiveness is freely given it means nothing. Wanting to receive forgiveness from another only intensifies self-righteousness in you. Meaning you are right and they are wrong. God knows who’s right or wrong, leave it with Him and seek Him only.
How Can I Get Rid of This?
Turn to resources you Trust
- God’s Word
- Prayer
- Your favorite Minister
- Spouse
- A godly friend
- A godly counselor
Ask yourself
- Have I felt like this before?
- What emotions might lie beneath the surface?
- What thoughts do I experience around this emotion?
- What are the common situations in which I experience hate, and perhaps more importantly, why these situations?
- Could my past experiences of fear, trauma, or rejection be shaping the way I view this hated individual or situation?
There are answers for you specifically but you must “seek, ask, and knock”, never giving up.
Love, Hate and Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a foundational principle of Christianity. It stems from Jesus on the cross forgiving us of our sins to our forgiveness of our neighbor. How often have you heard, “I forgive them but I haven’t forgotten”? Impossible! You can not mix love and hate together and think God is OK with that. Can you imagine Jesus saying on the cross, “I forgive them but I won’t forget”? Wow, I don’t even want to think of it.
The Bottom Line
If you are truly in Christ, how is it that anything other than Christ moves you? People, friends, relatives, and siblings; may or may not do, say, or not say, whatever you do, say, or think. These things should not move you. Your feelings are hurt? So what? Why are you focused on yourself instead of Christ and Him crucified? If you have a problem, fix it and or call on Him who heals all things. If your relationship has a problem, pray for them and allow God to fix and redeem the situation. If you have had a chronic illness for years you are disparaged by family, coworkers, friends, etc. God is still in control. He is either working something out of you or something into you or someone else. He is shaping you into His image. There is no room for hate or anger. Only continue to love He who created you and is in control of you as well as them. Focusing on anything other than the Cross is selfishness and an attempt to regain control of your life which you gave to Jesus when you became Born Again. Again, “Let go and let God”.
Many become angered at God because He hasn’t healed them or fixed the fix (problem) they got themselves into or someone else got them into. Again, don’t focus on you and your problems. The only answer that will satisfy you will come from the Cross. Yes, this may take you to the end of your life. But, if your life is in Him that is a blessing and your reward is imminent.
Conclusion
Love supersedes hate on every level. Those who think that hate currently runs the world have not read the end of the Book. Learn how to stay focused. (Read, Three Principles You Can Live By, click here). The Olympics are due to be in Paris this summer. Watch them and learn from them. Be God’s Olympian and run the race to the end. You can not lose.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (1 Corinthians 5-17) TPT
“As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God! So consider carefully how Jesus faced such intense opposition from sinners who opposed their souls so that you won’t become worn down and cave in under life’s pressures.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) TPT
Enough Said
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16) ESV
