Are you? I am, or at least I try to be. Do you find that surprising? If you do, you have not read enough of my posts here on P.O.C..
Let me back up a little. In “Pursuit Is” I define and support with Scripture what “Love Is” and what it is not. Love for God, Love for ourselves and Love for one another. In “God is Pro-Choice” I go into God’s immense Love for us. In “We Are Moving…” and “Separating The Chaff…” I tear apart “secular morality” and its perversion of what Love is. So, here I am going to take a look at the flip side: Hate.
(For your convenience an Audio of this post follows the end. Just hit play)
In college, I had a friend who was born and raised in Honduras until the age of 16, when her family moved to the tropical land of Michigan. As much as she loved being with her family here, she just could not take the Michigan cold much less the snow that comes with it. The whole time she was here, very few occasions went by where she didn’t make a reference. It was her plan that when she finished school she would move to Florida, a climate similar to the one she loved. As much as she loved the heat, she hated the cold. The warmth was so much a part of what and who she was that she just hated its opposite, the cold.
Two of the references in We Are Moving are Revelations 3:19 and Ezekiel 3:17-21. They are used to support the command that we are to “rebuke” the sinful acts of our brother. If we don’t, we do not love that brother, and, even more, God “will hold you accountable for their blood.” Ez 3:20 clearly says that if we do not “warn them, they will die for their sin.” To say nothing would not be Love. In fact, if I truly Loved my brother or “my neighbor,” I would Hate anything that would put them in that position. 1 John tells us not to love “the things of this world,” and, furthermore, anyone who does, “the Father is not in him.” If I truly Loved the Father, then I would Hate anything that would separate me from Him. 1 John also says: “There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love drives out fear.” So, what can man do to us for Loving our brother?
These posts lay out the foundation for my Hate and destroy the argument put forward by the world. Secular morality tells us that tolerance is love and that intolerance is hate. God says the opposite is True. Hate the temptation and sin that would condemn your brother to death; don’t tolerate it. Hate theft and the circumstances that drove your neighbor to break that commandment, and Love them enough not to tolerate it. Love them enough to offer a different solution to their problems. Hate the sins of sexual immorality as defined by God and the world that made them think it was OK. Love them enough to offer a different world where God grants us “power, love, and self-control.” Hate the idols, the “other gods,” that man puts “before” and between them and God. But Love them enough to show them that when they “cry out” those gods will fail. Show them that “Everything is meaningless except God.” Hate the world that would preach secular morality, ascribing it to God and using His name in vain. Love them enough to show them what “Truth Is” and what God says is right and wrong.
Love the Garden and the God who made it, but Hate the serpent and his servants who repeat his whispers. Love truth; Hate lies. Love life; Hate anything that takes it away. Love your neighbor; Hate envy of his house. Love God; Hate words of timidity, weakness and tolerance spoken in His name. Love Is, obedience to His commandments; Hate disobedience. Love Is, Faith; Hate doubt. Love patience; Hate impatience. Hate, Hate, Hate… Hate! Hate all that is not of God. Hate all that would get between you and what is God. Hate anything and everything that would separate your neighbor from knowing God. Love God, your brother and your neighbor so much that you Hate all that would come against them. Like my college friend and heat, God must be so integrated into who we as Christians are that we Hate all that is opposite.
Still not sure I got this right? Here are a few more Scriptures: Psalms 97:10, 119:104, 119:113, 119:128; Proverbs 6:16-19, 8:13; Ecclesiastes 3:8; Amos 5:15; Zechariah 8:17.
Today, “Just a Thought” comes from Christ in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
© 12/6/2017 Scott A Caughel