Hatred: What does the word of God says?

But when we go to the word of God it tells us that the best weapon against hatred is love. The first scripture I find regarding what to do regarding hate is to help someone else who hates you. “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.”Exodus 23:5. The reality is that most of us don’t have donkeys, but what this scripture says that if you know someone hates you and they are having trouble you need to not walk away out of your feeling of dislike, you need to set aside your anger and pride and help them to be in the will of God. That is not an easy task.

God in his word goes even a little further, “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.I am theLord. Do not hate your brother in your heart.Rebuke your neighbor franklyso you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus19:16-18

How much do we like to bad mouth those who we are angry with and sometimes add a little bit more than what was said or done? My beloved that is slander. God also says that we are not to hate or endanger our neighbor. Who’s our neighbor? EVERYONE. We can’t even get even for the harm done against us, because we should not seek revenge and we are to love our enemies.

The problem is that likewise God says that if we don’t obey these commands he will then seek his correction on us. He says in Deuteronomy 19:10-12 that if we hate our neighbor, whatever we do against them we will pay the consequences.

On our next time we will explore what happens if we choose to hate or to not hate.