Title

Don’t Hate

Scripture
He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
(1 John 2:11)
Devotional
Do you hate anybody? Hatred is having animosity or hostility toward someone. It is easy to define, but how do we really know whether we hate someone or not? We Christians seem to have a hard time fessing-up to how we truly feel about people. We so often mask our hatred behind a verbal proclamation of love. We say that we love someone and then spew our venom about them. James gives a strong inclination of how we can know if, “out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?”(1) As our text says, hatred is an indication of darkness. The command to love is the strongest of all the commandments. From our neighbors to our enemies and from the stranger to our spouses, we are clearly commanded and therefore empowered to love one another.

(1) James 3:10-11
Thought For The Night
“You must hate sin in yourselves as much or more than in any other.” Richard Baxter, (1615-1691), Puritan evangelist, Directions for Loving Our Neighbor as Ourselves 
Evening Text
1 John 2:11: He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Looking for Answers
 
Evening Study Guide
Defining: “Hate”: That which you deem despicable, unacceptable, and repulsive, which results in hostility, animosity, and harm.
 
Referencing: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20
 
Applying: Make sure, make very sure, that you only hate those things that God hates and make sure, make very sure, that you love those things that God loves.