Don’t Tell Me Who To Hate

If you are a Christian, then you know that all of our relationships, both with God and among all people, must be grounded in love, for Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another¹”

From news outlets, movies and shows, our government, and, worst of all, from our pulpits, we are awash in messages telling us who to hate. Oh, it’s usually couched in fine words and euphemisms, but if we strip the facade, we see hate. Yes, we are to hate sin and love obedience to God², but it is God, through the Apostle John, who tells us: If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar³.

Is a man an Islamic Fundamentalist? That is not just justification for me to hate him. Is he a thief, a murderer, a hatred-spewing bigot? I can hate every aspect of him, but how can I hate him? Was I ever superior to him? Was I more deserving of salvation than he?

There are many places in the Bible where God hates the behavior of man and a few where God hates a person or a type of person⁴, but those are reserved for God. Even when King David wrote in Psalms 31:6, “I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord⁵.” it’s not clear that we should make this a doctrine of the Church.

Right now, from what I just wrote, a few of you are fetching your list of the categories of people that are “fair game” for hatred. Perhaps, you will fit me into one or more of your categories. No one should be surprised by this natural response since all of us have been told to hate some category of people – left wing, right wing, billionaires, socialists, TV Evangelists, Catholics, Muslims. Do you know who God hates? He hates anyone who causes someone to sin⁶.

Due to the events in the Middle East, the risk of harm to us has increased. If harm does come upon us, it will be accompanied by calls for us to hate individuals and specific groups of people.

Here is the danger we face. God is very particular about how you and I treat and think about people. In the Book of James, we are warned, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness⁷.”

Billions of people in the world know the verse, “For God so loved the world⁸,” yet many are hated by His children. Jesus does not fit in a box. He must not be used as a weapon or to coerce people. He is not a set of rules or beliefs. He is real. He is a man who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, who lived, died, and rose again because He never sinned. Reconciliation to God is only possible through Him. He is with God and is God⁹.

We must accept Jesus for who He is, not as a set of ideas by which we can justify our hatred of someone. So don’t tell me who to hate. I must show my love for Jesus by obeying His commands¹⁰, and His preeminent command is for His followers to be known by their love.

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Footnotes

1. John 13:35 – Love One Another. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/john/13-35.htm ↩︎
2. Romans 12:9 – Love, Zeal, Hope, Hospitality. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/romans/12-9.htm ↩︎
3. 1 John 4:20 – Love Comes from God. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/1_john/4-20.htm ↩︎
4. Proverbs 6:16-19 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%206%3A16-19&version=ESV ↩︎
5. Psalm 31:6 – Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/psalms/31-6.htm ↩︎
6. Matthew 18:6 – The Greatest in the Kingdom. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/matthew/18-6.ht ↩︎
7. James 3:9 – Taming the Tongue. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/james/3-9.htm ↩︎
8. John 3:16 – For God So Loved. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm ↩︎
9. John 1:1 – The Beginning. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/john/1-1.htm ↩︎
10. John 14:15 – Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/john/14-15.htm ↩︎