NYASHADZAISHE RUSHWAYA
The Bible is not silent about hatred. It is the opposite emotion and behavior that Jesus Christ epitomized when He came to die on the cross, paying the price for the sins of humanity.
The dictionary defines it as, “ill will or resentment that is usually mutual: prejudiced hostility or animosity.”
This definition does not seem to fully encapsulate hatred, as it is often the driving force for the worst of human behavior, including murder – the intentional ending of a life. God’s Word gives many powerful statements about what hate is.
Many verses define hate by showing how it is different from the character of God. By juxtaposing hate with love and goodness, one understands what hate is by realizing what it is not.
Where there is conflict, there is the potential for hate. It leads to discord, disharmony, malice, and anger. The negative emotions it is tied up with leads to sin. Hate is a motivator.
Hate is not just an emotion. It is a state of being that involves choices, behaviors, and thoughts. It separates people rather than brings them together, because the one hating sets themself away from another.
They can do it for superficial reasons, or understandable ones. Racism is an example of hatred driven by ethnic differences. Some people hate others due to religious differences.
Individuals often hate one another due to past wrongs, refusing to seek reconciliation. Ultimately, hate can lead to people not seeing the object of their hatred as fully human, justifying bad behavior on either a petty or a grand scale.
Jesus does not deny hatred’s existence, nor does He spend His entire time only preaching about love, an assumption often made by people unfamiliar with the Gospels.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus clarified that sin was not just outward behavior, it began with the state of someone’s heart. It is not enough to just not commit adultery, it is wrong to think about having inappropriate sexual relationships. Of anger, and taken to its extreme hate, Jesus said:
“You have heard it was said of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire’” (Matthew 5:21-22).
Hate begins in the heart, nursing anger at someone else or a group of people. Even if someone never acts on their hate, it is still a sin. Highlighting the true origins of sin as internal, a heart issue, allowed Jesus to show how incapable people were to live up to the Old Testament law.
Under that system, people honored laws about behavior, cleanliness, and sacrifice in order to be righteous before God, but over time that became the source of salvation, even though they were supposed to pursue true repentance and a relationship with the Lord.
Jesus came so the law would be fulfilled, becoming the source of all forgiveness. Even the most hateful individual can repent and be changed by God’s love. This message was not always received with enthusiasm, nor is it today.
The Messiah knew what hate was because He was hated in His day. Because of this, He knew and prophesied that His followers would suffer.
When speaking about the signs of the end of days, He said in (Matthew 24:9). The further away from God the world strays, the more hate will motivate decisions.
Some assume this will only lead to violence and prejudice. While there is truth to this idea, it will also manifest in hating truth for lies, hating godly wisdom for man’s foolishness, and hating God’s justice for man’s injustice.
Despite being hated Himself, Jesus did not hate His enemies, and those who follow Him are to do the same, (Luke 6:27-28).
Because the Lord knew what it meant to be fully human, with human weakness, He understood that sinful people would struggle to be obedient, to not respond to hate with hate.
In one of His teachings, Jesus imparted tools to prevent believers from falling into the habit of quarreling, instead encouraging them to forgive, “seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). In other words, He tells them to forgive as many times as it takes.
He died so that man could be forgiven eternally for their sins. He is eternal, and His forgiveness will last forever for those who ask for it; He can be an everlasting source for the strength to forgive, which can only be done in love.
Many people experience anger, some even have tempers that manifest in ways that are detrimental to their relationships.
Getting mad at someone does not mean the relationship is hateful.
