Let
brotherly love continue.
Hebrews 13:1
Hebrews 13:1
Ask
the question, “What is the opposite of love?” A big majority of
time, you will receive a common answer... “Hate.” The answer can
be right according to some and wrong according to others. However,
two positive emotions cannot be opposites. Here's a test: “I
love you” or “I hate you.” Both are perfectly sound
grammatically speaking and both make positive statements with no
awkwardness, therefore, love and hate cannot be opposites at least in
word usage. In our day, however, many people view love and hate as
being opposites and those views are sound in most folks minds. I
won't even argue with the concept as that's what we have been taught
through our growing up years.
What is the true opposite of love...it is apathy. For one thing, a very bad sentence using that word as we did above would be, “I apathy you.” There you have opposites. Now there is an opposite meaning of love but what does it mean. Any number of dictionaries say similar things about the emotions of apathy as well as that of hate. In a nutshell, they are as follows:
APATHY:
Lack
of feeling, emotion, interest or concern. It can be a natural
response to disappointment, dejection or stress. Apathy helps an
individual justify behavior toward another person or situation. This
emotion can often be hidden or misunderstood by an outsider. One
with apathy may be viewed as having a bad day, be ill, etc. It's not
as verbal as our next emotion.
HATE:
Feeling
intense or passionate dislike for someone. Hate is feeling hostility
toward a person or situation. It is to detest, loathe, despise or
abhor. This emotion is hard to hide. It may not express violence as
can happen, but it will eventually be revealed in attitude and
verbally as well. The person of hate will be forthcoming with
friends about their hate for another even though they might not use
that four letter word.
Apathy and hate have some things in common:
Both are human emotions...not good ones
They both have targets...aimed at another person or even situation
They have their roots running deeply in evil and not in the spiritual things of God
For a Christian to feel either emotion toward another, is not in God's will, no matter the hurt.
Hate and apathy are both things that grow through time...they never shrink until dealt with.
Mental illness can result from both emotions.
Both behaviors are sin/evil.
God is the only answer to any negative, non-spiritual emotions that have taken over ones life.
So
if neither emotion is acceptable, and the Bible does speak of hate,
do we ever have God's permission to hate. The answer is “YES.”
I recall one of our children coming to me crying over something that
had happened with a friend saying, “I just hate______.” My
answer was instant and I probably said it more than one time in our
lives. I said, “The only person we hate is Satan.” Yes, we are
to hate him, his angels, the situations he authors that are anti-God,
the sin he fosters in human beings and our world, etc. The list
could go on and on.
There
are things in Proverbs 6:16-19 that God is very clear about:
These
six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven
are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that
shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and
he that soweth discord among brethren.
are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that
shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and
he that soweth discord among brethren.
Note
that of the seven things God hates, “a proud look” leads the
list. The rest of the list has roots in that pride. One can't have
a proud look without the sin of pride being present in a life
That's a list all we Christians could take a good look at and examine our own hearts.
However, we must note that over and over in the Gospels as we saw Jesus deal with His enemies. He always expressed love but hated the sin that seemed to rule in their lives.
That's a list all we Christians could take a good look at and examine our own hearts.
However, we must note that over and over in the Gospels as we saw Jesus deal with His enemies. He always expressed love but hated the sin that seemed to rule in their lives.
Our
God is a God of love. His will for us is that we love. When I love
an enemy, it means spending a lot of time in prayer for that person.
When I am praying much for that individual, I'm talking more to God
and less to others. It means I'm not setting out to spread verbal
venom. There are folks I love but things about them I don't like.
That's going to be true of most of us as we deal with differences in
personality and lifestyles. But God can even help us overcome those
things as well if I'm willing for Him to do that work in my heart.
Despite
all of the hate and apathy in the world and in many hearts, God's
love can overcome any situation and help us conquer those negative
feelings we feel toward others. It will have to be His work though.
What is His heart's desire for us and what do when we are on the
receiving end of another's hate? We find the answer in Matthew
5:43,44 when Jesus said:
Ye
have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and
hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you,
Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully
use you, and persecute you.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and
hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you,
Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully
use you, and persecute you.
So
if you are a hater...get rid of it through God's power in you.
If you don't have that power, ask Jesus to come into your life and
save you from this and other sin. If you are the hated,
don't
let that person(s) take over your inner life, which is easy to
happen. Jesus made the job of the hated very clear...love, bless, do
good and pray for that hater that may be lurking in your life. I
understand the hate from a non-Christian as they know nothing of the
love of Christ. Jesus told us to expect that from the world. I find
it most difficult having to go through the hatred or apathy brought
about by another Christian. God's family should never have to bear
the modern title, DISFUNCTIONAL.
God
won't hold us responsible for the hateful actions of another but will
hold us responsible for our response to them. May we in Holy Spirit
power be able to move beyond the pain another inflicts and stay on
the high road where God wants us to be.
Father,
give me victory that I may have a part in loving those who bear a
hatred or apathy toward me. Help me to have a deep, sincere love
for those members of Your family that I'm a part of. In Jesus
precious name...Amen
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