I Love/Hate You

Who's that special someone for you? You know the one I'm talking about. You can't stop thinking about them, any time they're brought up in conversation you just find yourself compelled to talk about them. You're obsessed; you think about them night and day, and you can't imagine anyone else being with them. Whenever you think about them, which is at least once a day, you get this strange feeling in the pit of your stomach. You know who I'm talking about, it's the object of your obsession: the person you hate. Now I know that "hate is a strong word", but sometimes it is an accurate word. Sometimes we view hate as something that could only be applied to the way we feel about murderers or Osama Bin Laden or rapists, and we forget that hate is a pretty commonplace thing. Jesus paired it in the same message with lust, which I think we can all agree is very commonplace, when he explained how serious an issue sin was. So, maybe this might be an issue that we all have dealt, will deal, or are currently dealing with right now.

Growing up you might have heard someone say "you don't have to like everybody, but you have to love everybody", and even though this is true, we might have exaggerated this statement too much in our minds. We often think that as long as we don't carry out our actions or wish horrible things on a person, than it isn't hate. But even the dictionary defines hate as "an intense hostility", which I think we all might have felt before. Do you know someone that anytime that person's name is brought up in conversation you can't seem to be happy until you have spoken bad about them at least once? Do you find yourself burning up thinking about how horrible or annoying they are, and how you don't understand how anyone else would ever want to be their friend? When something good happens to them do you find it hard to be happy for them, maybe you even dislike the fact that they're getting attention for it? If you're honest with yourself, you'd have to admit your probably hate this person. Just like Jonah, who couldn't understand how God could give grace to the people he hated the most, we don't want to believe that God would allow good things to happen to people who don't deserve it. We often forget that God already gave us grace, which is simply getting a good thing that you don't deserve, so why should we get to decide that someone else shouldn't get the same thing?

The basic truth behind the "you don't have to like everybody" statement is that it is okay for people to annoy you or for you not to enjoy somebody's company, but you should still hope that good things happen for them and rejoice with them when they do. See love and hate are not choices for those of us who call ourselves Christians. The Bible makes it clear that when we hate someone, than God's love is not in us; because if you can't even love someone that you can see, how could you ever love a God that you can't (refer to contest)? So, if we are to say that we love God, then we must love others, there is no choice.

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Pray
That God will help you to identify those that you do hate, and to help you to see them the way He does, so that you can extend His love and grace to them.