Years ago, I was part of tight group of friends who all lived in the same neighborhood. We did everything together. At some point, two members of the group had a disagreement that created a deep chasm between them. It’s safe to say they hated each other.
For years they avoided each other, leaving neighborhood events when the other showed. They hurled some pretty nasty words “in private” that were fully intended to be heard by the other. Wives were expected to stay away from their dear friends simply because she was married to “him.”
It deteriorated to the point where we, the others in our group, were expected to pick “him or me.”
This same kind of hatred is all around us.
In the past decade or so, it’s become not only acceptable to hate those who disagree with you but even encouraged. In some circles, it’s almost demanded. There are those who actually want to bring physical harm to those they disagree with.
Look, I can speak to this because I’m guilty. While I’ve never inflicted physical harm to people I disagree with, I have experienced deep rage toward Steeler fans after beating my Bengals.
But what does the Bible say about hate?
There are about 90 different places in the KJV Bible that address hatred.
In these verses, we see that hate is both a tool and a weapon. God teaches us to hate evil things. But as with everything else the imperfection of man touches, we twist the truth to match our desires and our narrative. “Evil” becomes almost anything – even a friend who has a different opinion than us.
But the Bible has even more to say about love. I’ll save you the trouble: it’s mentioned 310 times in the KJV, and in the ESV, a whopping 510 times!
1 John says (paraphrased) if we hate our brother we’ve seen on earth, how can we love our Father in Heaven who we’ve never seen?
How can anyone who professes to consider themselves a child of God willingly and enthusiastically spew anger and hatred at the persons closest to them, simply because they have a world view that differs from theirs?
Easy.
We tend to fear what we don’t understand. When someone else’s worldview or opinion doesn’t make sense to us, we find ourselves afraid.
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This fear leaves us vulnerable to the enemy. He has this incredible gift to take our fear and turn it into rage. Enough to bring indescribable harm to those who’ve been designated as the “evil-doers” or “the other side.”
How do we combat this?
Simple: love.
1 John 4:18 says “There is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” In Zephaniah 3, we read that “with his love, he will calm all your fears”.
The key to knowing when to bring in the love is knowing when those who wish to harm you are trying to stoke the fire of fear in order to turn it into a blaze of hatred.
After maybe five years, my two neighbor friends found themselves (to their mutual disgust) seated at the same table at another neighbor’s wedding reception. Thanks to the grace of God and the Tampa Bay Lightning, they were able to recall the things that brought them together in friendship. Wounds were healed and while I’m sure they would never admit it, the hate they felt towards each other was replaced with love.
The most incredible thing about these five years of friendship wasted was that neither one of them can remember what the other one did that started the feud to begin with.
Try this. Whenever you’re watching anything, reading any post, listening to any podcast, ask yourself:
“Where is this really coming from?” “How much of this is fact?” and “What’s the fear angle here?”
When you drag it out into the light, you’ll see the monsters are all wind and no teeth. There is nothing to fear. As you do this and become practiced at it, here’s what happens: it becomes almost impossible for the fear mongering to take away your love and YOU become the one who is empowered.
Let Love be your North Star, it will always lead you to the path He has created for you.
Skip Mahaffey
Morning Show Host, STAR 93.3
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