Our world is very good at talking about love. There are multiple industries that are built on the idea or concept of it. Movies are centred around it. Sections of psychology are devoted to it. Lawyers discuss and argue it in every country around the globe. Books worship it. Songs idolise it. Websites exploit it. You could very easily say that love (or the idea of it) makes the world go round.
The thing with love is that it is definitely directional. It is expressed from one thing to another. It draws together or pulls apart. If that is the case, then I believe Newton’s third law applies. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The more you love something, the more you are going to hate something as well.
Hate is a very powerful thing. It is normally considered negative, but it can have very positive results. In a world obsessed with love, I believe it is important to not forget that hate drives us too. The more you love somebody, the more you will hate situations or people that could harm them. The more you hate sickness, the more you appreciate and love being healthy. The more you hate injustice, the harder you want to fight for what is right.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Adele said something that I believe is universally true: “I hate the same way I love”. It’s the same passion and intoxication, just with different results. Where love yearns and draws, hate is like a fire that burns.
If you think that what I am saying is borderline heresy, think again. God hates things too. And if you want to love what God loves, you are going to have to hate what God hates. In Proverbs 6, it states six things that God hates and seven things that he detests:
- Proud and arrogant eyes – LOVE HUMILITY
God opposes any sense of pride. Any notion that you are better than anyone else. The fact is, no matter how much success or achievement I rack up behind my name, I am still a bag of meat with a brain I did not give myself. I find it interesting that our eyes can be arrogant or ‘haughty’. In many ways, if we life looking at the world and people in our world as inferior – then we have proud eyes.
2. A lying tongue – LOVE HONESTY
What we say matters. God used words to create the universe. God used to words to cause the great flood. If we are made in his likeness – then our words have the power to create and destroy. Lies are never constructive. They always destroy. Always undermine authority. Always hurt people (even if it is yourself).
3. Hands that shed innocent blood – LOVE LIFE
Notice it is only ‘hands’, not the whole person. What is happening around the world at the moment in terms of murder on every scale is absolutely disgusting. It should repulse us. But everyone is redeemable. No one is too far from God. When Jesus’ hands were pierced and his innocent blood spilt, I believe he took on the sin and condemnation of those who have killed. We need to pray for those people!
4. A heart that plans wicked schemes – LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS
Calculated evil is definitely detestable. We are instructed to guard our heart, for from it flows life. If our heart is corrupt enough to calculate evil, we are in danger of losing ourselves completely.
5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil – LOVE SALVATION
Living without discipline will hurt you in the long run. Have you ever felt like you just end up doing the wrong thing all the time, no matter what you do? I found that I had to re-evaluate my principles so that evil would not become my refuge. God is the only place I will ever be completely safe.
6. A false witness – LOVE THE TRUTH
Justice is something everyone should uphold. We need to hate anything that supports unfair treatment of any life.
7. A person who stirs up conflict in the community – LOVE GOD’S HOUSE
Unity commands a blessing. The right kind of community builds people up and will always draw people in. Focussing on what unites us instead of what divides us – working on what we are for instead of defining what we are against – is always going to benefit those around us.
I don’t know if you are tangled up in the wrong kind of hate. You might have lost all perspective because you feel betrayed, ignored or rejected. I can tell you with full confidence that God hates whatever bad has been done to you. He is passionately against anything that has harmed you because he loves you so much. You may have questions. Things might not make complete sense, but if you click on the link below and start a relationship with this living, loving God I believe you find all you are searching for and so much more.