Go ahead and hate

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Section from the book

In all your longing to love as Christ loved, you sometimes forget that true love for one thing will, or at least should, produce a hatred for whatever stands against it. Do not neglect cultivating hatred, an intense hatred, for the right things

If you are following Jesus, cherishing the gospel, and loving God and neighbor, then you will hate well. If you do not hate evil, you will find yourself more susceptible to temptation, slower to respond to corruption, and unmotivated to contend for the faith. Hate is a real part of your faith—don’t forget it.

Simple thoughts

Hard to believe, but you are supposed be a hater, Jesus was. Jesus never sinned and hated, it is possible but you must hate the right things.  The Bible talks so much about love and people emphasize the love aspect so much that they think hate is off limits. Well it’s not. To truly love something you have to hate the something that stands against it. The first thing a Christian needs to learn to hate is their own sin. If you don’t learn to hate the things that need to be hated you had better ask yourself how much you love Jesus.

In case you needed proof that Jesus hated see Revelation 2:6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.