Introduction

The Bible uses some rather strong language about hating.

Solomon wrote, "These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination to him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren." (Prov. 6:16-19.)

Through John the apostle and prophet, Jesus said that he hated the doctrine of the Nicolatians. (Rev. 2:6.) We do not know exactly what that teaching was, but it was so repulsive that the Lord pointed it out that he hated it. They knew what he was talking about.

There are people who actually hate God! Paul wrote that some were "haters of God." (Rom. 1:30.) Some are "enemies of the cross of Christ." (Phil. 3:18.) Paul wept over this response to the cross.

Some brethren hate one another. "He that saith he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness even until now." (1 John 2:9.) "Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." (1 John 3:15.) How do you know when you hate your brother? When you do not love them. . . when you say and do hateful things against them. . . when you seek your own welfare above theirs. . . when you slander them and destroy their reputation. There are folks in every church that hate one another! Did you know that??

The world hates Christians. Jesus said, "If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19.)

David wrote, "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies." (Psalm 139:21-22.) Like David, we too should hate some things. Here are some things that I hate.

Paul, like all believers, wrestled with trying to do good and abstain from the evil. Romans 7:14-25 and Galatians 5:17 express this conflict. In the midst of these statements, we find this mind of Paul: "For what I would that do I not, but what I hate that I do." (Rom. 7:15.) Later, Paul exclaimed, "O, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24.)

Because we love God and the Gospel, because we understand the cross of Jesus Christ, because we understand the mind of God concerning evil, and because we really want to do good, the evil becomes so repulsive. Yet, we seem to be unable to live above the wicked things of the world. We turn away from them, only to be trapped again on another occasion. The Devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. On one occasion, we feel so near the Lord, then another day we feel so far away. I hate it when I fail committing sophomoric sins.

I wish that we could really, literally, once for all, put to death the old man. The Bible speaks of our doing that in conversion. We rise to walk a new life, but we find that it is not always new. We make a commitment to live a holy life. But we wait another day for that to be fully realized. God counts us as having the righteousness of his Son and as being dead to sin. We can become like Jesus and make some progress only when we accept the way God accounts us. We should reckon ourselves to be dead to sin. But I hate it when sin rears its ugly head again. I wish above all things that we could be done with sin once and for all time.

I hate sin in my life. I feel compassion for others, because I know that they also struggle against sin. Christians are those who are engaged in this struggle and do not give in to it. Sinners have not yet decided to hate sin and seek forgiveness from God.

Almost every week, a hurting parent tells me about the heartache that they feel over their children. They were raised in the church and they how they should live. They know the truth about life and salvation in Christ Jesus. They were taught to know God and fear Him. Yet, now that they are young adults, the world has deceived them and captured their minds, at least for now.

The Bible speaks clearly about the deception of this world. The wisdom of the world stands in bold opposition to the wisdom of God. "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." (1 Cor. 1:27-28.)

The world makes young people think that there is something more sophisticated than living a morally, spiritually upright life. They make them think that it is broad-minded and more intellectual to accept homosexuality as alternate lifestyles. Christianity will burden you, they say. You need to free yourself from the outdated teachings of religion and faith in God. It is smarter to believe in evolution than creation, they think. In the end, they exalt themselves above God. They think that they are wiser than God. They cannot begin to give an adequate explanation for the origin of life and the meaning of life, but they are confident that their surmising is better than the revelation of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

It is so easy to see through the deception of the world. It is as easy as seeing that alcoholism is stupidity. Basil Overton challenged those who want to cast off Christianity by saying, Go ahead and live opposite of everything in the Bible and see what will happen to you. If you do, he said, you will destroy yourselves! He is right. If the Bible is so wrong, do not pick and choose what you want to do. Reject all of it.

I hate it when good parents, not perfect parents, have done their best to teach their children God’s way and now live in heart-wrenching, unspeak-able pain because of what their children now have chosen as their way of life. The Proverbs assert, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not part from it." (22:6.) But children have been given the freedom of choice in life. We cannot take it away from them, though sometimes we would like to. They can choose to reject God in their lives and fall to the same old worn-out lies and deception that has entrapped millions before them. There is nothing new about sin. It is as old as the Garden of Eden. There is nothing good about it.

If you have been a member of the church for a few years, you know what I am talking about it. We have watchdogs, bull dogs, chaperons and sharks in the church. In every church, there is a self-appointed doctrinal expert. He knows all the rules, but little about love. He knows the letter of the law, but does not have a clue about the spirit of the law. To such people, the supposed errors of others justify meanness, lack of courtesy, respect and brotherly love. These tensions rob us of our fellowship and joy in our hope of eternal life. The result is that we are not a happy people.

Some are under the impression that God is pleased with the help they are rendering to His Cause. Remember Jesus’ words? "They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time comes that whosoever kills you will think that he doeth God service." (John 16:2.) People are the most dangerous when they think that their meanness, and even murder, satisfies God.

People have been arguing over religion and what they think about it for years. A proverb has arisen about it: Don’t talk about politics and religion if you want to keep your friends! How sad. There are people in the church who not only will disagree with you on the least important matters, but will despise you and hate you for not agreeing with them. We seemingly have not yet learned that love for one another is one of the most important New Testament doctrines. Right?? "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." (John 13:35.) In the traits given in many sermons for the people of God, this one is rarely ever mentioned. To some, doctrinal hair-splitting is more important than brotherly love.

God is surely not pleased with us when we misuse His Word, claiming a higher allegiance to God as our reason for despising one another. John wrote that "if you do not love your brother whom you have seen how can you love God whom you have not seen." (1 John 4:20.) The hardest thing commanded in the Bible is learning to love others. The reason is that it means that we seek the good of others instead of ourselves. Tensions exist not because we love God more, but because we have not learned to love one another as we should.

The psalmist wrote, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1.) He likened this to the precious ointment upon the head of Aaron and the dew upon Mount Hermon. "For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forever more." (verse 3.) If it is good and pleasant to dwell together in unity, it is both bad and unpleasant to have dissentions, disagreements, and divisions.

I hate racial tensions among brethren. It shows our spiritual immaturity. Racial prejudice is far too common. Racial tensions exist between two races; both have a responsibility to live in Christian love and unity. Jew and Arab are both responsible. Likewise, Protestant and Catholic bear responsibility. The problem simply stated is that one race feels superior; another race feels inferior. The supposed superior race needs to be told, (and I am now telling you), that you are not above anyone. You are not better than anyone. "Are we better than they? No, in no wise." (Rom. 3:9.) Your racial pride and prejudice shows your immaturity. You should repent of it. The race that feels inferior needs to know that no one is above you. And do not allow anyone that status. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Paul preached on Mars’ Hill that God ‘hath made of one blood of all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." (Acts 17:26.)

In Christianity, we are taught to "let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other better than themselves." (Phil. 2:3.) Again, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another." (Rom. 12:10.) Do you do that? You are doing the opposite if you think you are better than others, or prefer yourself above others.

There are two problems in racial tensions. One is often playing the role of the victor (superior race) and the other is playing the role of victim (the inferior race). Both need to start viewing one another as equal in the eyes of God. Stop playing the role of victor and the role of victim. Jesus was despised and rejected by his own people, but he never played the part of a victim. (John 1:12.) He never complained and pointed out what people thought about him. He knew who he was and he knew that he would be offered as a sacrifice, but not as a victim. It is so easy to play the role of victim. Husbands and wives often play the game with one another. Anyone who thinks that have been hurt in the church can play it. It invites sympathy and special treatment. It is childish to do. But it is wrong because it an attack against the other party.

The solution to the problem of racial tensions is for each race to feel comfortable with who they are. Enjoy being a Macedonian or a Romanian. Enjoy being a Jew or an Arab. Enjoy being whatever nationality or ethnic origin you are! But do not exalt yourself above others, and do not put yourself below others. No one can help you if you are intent on putting yourself on the bottom!

We should all be able to say that we love the Gospel of Christ, we love God, we love good and not evil, and we love one another. We love life. We desire eternal life. We want to please God. (John 8:29.)