Love and Hate

Lord today I keep thinking of what people are trying to say with love is love and anything that is said that disagrees with someone is hate. What’s incredible, in Your word there are six separate words for hate that says the same thing, “to hate, hatred, having been hated, hateful, and unfortunately haters of God. What exactly is hate? From Wikipedia, “Hatred or hate is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust.” That’s a bit jarring. If someone accuses someone or is hateful to someone, that is a bold and shocking accusation. We hear it all the time, though. Hate speech, hatred of race, sex, laws, criminals, families, the list could go on. But then we talk about the hatred of a frequented restaurant, hatred of waking up, hatred of doing a chore, hatred of the color fuchsia. The point being, and You know well that I am guilty of it too, but we assign hate to different levels depending on how our mood is. But, if hatred were what it is, the repulsion of someone, something, somewhere, there would be actionable animosity. Oh wait, there is. Your people are suffering because the world hates them. Where other countries behead children, rape others women, kill the fathers, and promote destruction, the world says we must advocate for them because Your people defended themselves and carried out what any sane country would do; break the will of the oppressors to keep them from the desire to attack again. Now, according to the definition of hate, that’s on the same level as hating vegetable soup. I don’t think that’s a silly comparison in the sense of hate is all inclusive to itself in its intensity, repulsion, and offense. I’ll circle back. As a  Christian, I know things are only going to get worse, and that’s a bleak outlook, but that’s not the end. Your word also gives us double the number of words describing different types of love. In John and Romans, love (agapao) describes the attitude of You to Your Son and generally us. (Phileo) representing tender affection as its own distinctive characteristic. (Ahab), a strong emotional attachment. (Ahabah) referring to family, friends, or more romantic, sexual, or strong affection. (Agape) for charitable love, (philanthropia) for love towards man, kindness, (philotheos) a lover of God, (philoxenos) a lover of hospitality, (philagathos) loving that which is good, (philarguros) love of money, philautos (loving oneself), and (philedonos) loving pleasure. So, in my understanding, and please forgive me if I’m wrong, but there is one, clear cut definition for hate in Your word and in our definition of it, so one level, yet love, throughout Your word, which I can understand that the English language only has one word to communicate it, but that isn’t exactly true, either, there are several different levels of love. It’s a no-brainer why You would say in 1 John 3:15, “Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” People are dying because of that actionable word, yet we tie it to, for example, a group of people who think they are hated so they hate who allegedly hates them. What’s sad is I’m not just talking about any single group out there, it permeates our entire culture. Worse so, when fellow Christians say they hate anyone regardless of their walk of life, it is completely unjustified and goes against the gospel message. Hate is not for us, our command is love! It’s unfortunate that being disagreeable is labeled something meant for the most heinous yet it's approached with humor and, regarding a lot of issues, built upon what rocks dream of. And still we have the gall to say love is love? If hate is sinful, then love is the complete opposite, right? There are several levels of love, several are righteous and good, but there are loves that You have made very clear that some loves are sinful. 2 Timothy 3:2-7, “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.)” When love of self, love of pleasure over You, Lord, prideful in the way that they walk, we really start to get a glimpse of the heart of man and its evil bend. Prideful, or let’s examine the movement of pride. Ironic that they have named their movement of something that comes before folly yet their symbol is Your reminder not to utterly destroy all of us until the time of repentance is over. Romans 1:24-32 makes it so very clear, “24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. 28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. 29 They are filled with all unrighteousness ,evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. 32 Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.” As true as it was 30 odd years ago in my time, truly we can see Your word unfolding. I know You’ve seen him, the homosexual pastor who told his congregation that “your homosexual relationships are righteous…” to which he later “preached” a sermon about the garden where he manipulated the events to proclaim, with so much pride by the way, that You were the deceiver and the snake was the truth teller! The measure of Your patience, my Lord,...unfathomable. And you give us a reason for Your merciful patience in 1 Corinthians 6:8-11, “8 Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and you do this to brothers and sisters! 9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this.,” But then, because of Your unequaled love and Your command to turn away from this wickedness, it finishes with, ”But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” And I know my letters are for You, Lord, and You alone, but I do want to address something in case someone else happens to read. You didn’t say we are justified to keep doing those things in our faith through Your Son, but ONLY because of our sins being cleansed and through sanctification, the setting apart of that wickedness, due to Christ’s blood through His sacrifice. Those evil and perverse actions against You must be rejected, casting them aside, turning towards You on the narrow path in the direction of Your righteousness. You continue to have patience so we can call and plead with those who are suffering in sin. I certainly thank You for remaining patient with me in my life to put my complete faith in You and repent of the evil that drowned me. You plunged me from those depths, made something completely new, and best of all, this beggar who laid at the door of Your house yearning for scraps was invited in, taken in as Your own because I already was, I just needed Christ, Your precious and holy son, my Savior and Lord, to cleanse me. For that, I am eternally grateful, completely subject and submissive to Your will, Amen!