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Articles
The Need for Hate
It’s not a word we like to hear about. Hate. The very word conjures up horrible and vivid images in our minds — maybe of hate crimes, of cruel people doing cruel things — the kind of things of which nightmares are made. Hate. What terror and yet what passion it arouses!
Hate is a passionate emotion that is closely related to love. Why do so many marriages end in hate-filled exchanges in the divorce court? Why do friendships or other relationships often result in hate? When love is interrupted, the passion needs a vent. Thus, it manifests itself as hate.
Our Father sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross in a passionate display of His love. Perhaps you have heard the crucifixion called “the passion.” It exemplifies passion. What passionate love, for an innocent to die for the guilty! And yet many do not accept God’s love. Some choose to love sin rather than to love God. So God’s love is interrupted. It manifests itself as holy hatred toward sin. The Psalmist wrote that God “hates wickedness” (Psalm 45:7), and the day is coming when God’s patience toward sinners will wear thin. The soul in sin will forever be separated from the love of God and damned to a devil’s hell. Because God loves, He hates.
Perhaps you were frightened by the title of this article, but isn’t it true? Don’t we all need hate in our lives. Jude writes that we should “hate even the garment defiled by the flesh” (Jude 23). Hate. If we love God, then we are going to hate. It is essential. The Christian must hate all those things that separate humanity from the loving Father. If we would hate sin instead of simply tolerating it, we would be much more inclined to go out and make a difference in our lost and dying world. When something comes between us and our heavenly Father, then we need to hate it with all the passion we can muster. Love demands no less.
