I am a hater!

Hate is a strong word that offends some people. The dictionary defines hatred as "an intense dislike, extreme hostility."  The tolerant culture in which we live tries to smooth out the wrinkles of hatred in us, and for good reason. Hatred is an emotion that packs the power of a bomb! If not mastered and properly focused, hate becomes a toxin that destroys. We need look no further than the news coming out of Israel and Gaza. Blind hatred has caused misery for millions on both sides of that war.

Still, there are things I hate. 

High on my list of things hated is abuse of power! 
Whether it is a government official throwing his weight around, a parent misusing his authority, or a spiritual leader feeding himself at the expense of those who follow him; I hate it. My blood boils when I see a powerful person exploit a weaker one.

I hate hypocrisy- in me, and in the world around me.  As much as I love authenticity, I know there are shadows in my life, places where the truth is obscured. It makes me angry when I become aware of a gap between what I profess to believe and how I live.  When I am in a room with a fake who is puffing and pretending to be someone he is not,  the desire to say, “Just stop now” is nearly overwhelming.

I hate senseless suffering.  At the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, those who were imprisoned there had to wear a hat at all times and stay on the concrete walkways.  If a prisoner stepped off the walkway, he was shot by guards in towers.  Sadistic guards would go among the prisoners, grab the hat from someone's head and toss it onto the grass.  Then they would order the man to retrieve his hat or suffer punishment.  When he stepped off the walkway, he was shot down or he was beaten to death! That is an extreme example, but the same kind of cruelty, just of a different degree, exists all around us.   Why people enjoy inflicting pain on others is a mystery to me.

I hate sin.  It’s not all black and white. There are large areas of gray. While I hate sin, there are parts of me that still desire it. The Bible reveals this as the normal human experience.  "The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge." (Romans 7:21-23, The Message)    I cannot trust my own resolve to protect me from doing wrong!    In fact, just about the time I start to feel self-assured, just about the time I conclude that I am beyond the reach of some temptation, I find myself locked in battle with it.   The Bible goes on to say, "Jesus Christ ... acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." (Romans 7:24-25, The Message)

Christian if you fail to acknowledge that you are prone sin, that there is an Enemy always ready to seduce you with temptation, exploiting even the slightest opportunity, you are likely to become all the other things on the list of things I hate! Me, too!  There is a sinful nature in me that only the Spirit of God can master and change. That’s why Jesus tells us to deal with the speck in our own eye before we try to remove the log in our brother’s eye!

If I don't not hate sin in me…

I will focus on the sins of others and become a critical abuser.  

I will fail to see my own failures and become hypocritical, with a stench of self-righteousness covering my life. 

I will inflict suffering on others by demanding from them what I cannot or will not demand of myself. 

That is why I love Jesus!  He invites me to the Cross, where He died to reconcile me to my Father and to restore, in me, the ability to do God's will.  I kneel in humility, acknowledging that I have sinned and that I am prone to sin again.  And, He sets me free. Forgiveness flows and I find release from guilt, renewal of hope, and the possibility of transformation.   Then, He invites me to be filled with the Holy Spirit, daily, and the power of the Spirit in me changes me 'from glory to glory.' 

Hate sin; but be careful that your hatred of it, drives you only to the Cross! Focus your hatred on sinners and it will destroy you and bring terrible injustice through you.  IF sin takes you to the Cross, you will be transformed into a warrior of love, making the world right.  

Here’s the word from the Word. 

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV)

_____________________

There is a name I love to hear

I love to sing its worth;

It sounds like music in my ear,

The sweetest name on earth.

It tells me of a Savior's love|

Who died to set me free;

It tells me of His precious blood,

The sinner's perfect plea.

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus

Because He first loved me.

It tells me what my Father has

In store for ev'ry day;

And though I walk a darkend path

It yields sunshine all the way.

It tells of One whose loving heart

Can feel my deepest woe;

Who in each sorrow bears a part

That none can bear below.

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus!

Oh! How I love Jesus

Because He first loved me.

Oh, How I Love Jesus

Larry Dalton © 1974 Bud John Songs, Inc.

CCLI License No. 810055