“Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.”
Proverbs 10:12 NLT
This sounds so easy, doesn’t it? We read it so many times in Scripture. Hate is condemned in the book of Titus, likened to murder in 1 John, and Luke tells us to do good to those who hate us. Yet, despite reading this, we still hate. We live in a broken world, and Satan is hard at work. We usually hate people when they hurt us, and hurt people hurt people.
The word hate has lost its meaning over the years. For example, some say they ‘hate’ certain athletes because they are excelling on a team they don’t like. Those people don’t actually have malice in their heart towards the athlete. Be careful, though, for in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that we need to be reconciled with someone before even going to the Lord and this must be done in earnest. John tells us that a man who hates is walking in darkness. Hatred is a heart sin, akin to an act of murder in the eyes of the Lord.
“But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”
Matthew 5:22-24 NLT
We are guilty of harboring bad emotions towards individuals we never met. We have a few things that set us off: people that cut others off without a blinker, people on the other side of the political aisle, people who blare vulgar music in public, just to name a few. It is how we deal with them in our hearts that God ultimately cares about. Do we curse them, insult them, or berate them? Or do we, as Christians, say a silent prayer for them?
Messengers of Mercy 