A Time To Hate

Ecclesiastes 3:8

a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

There is a time for everything. A specific time. We teach our kids to love and not hate, but the Bible clearly shows us that there is a time for hate.

The wrong time to hate is when God has given direction and we want to do something else. Psalm 50:17 “You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.” We need to find a way to love God’s instruction and change our selfish priorities. When we hear God’s correction either through the Holy Spirit or through a loving person who sees that we need to be redirected, we should thank them for correcting our steps so we don’t fall. Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”

Those who refuse to accept instruction and correction may turn a whim into a firm habit of sin. Firm habits are ruts, and ruts are hard to get out of. We make excuses for ourselves. We rationalize and justify our sin until it becomes hard for us to see. We become so blind to it, it’s hard for us to admit it was ever sin. Psalm 36:2 “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”

We should remind ourselves everyday that we are not perfect, but God is. We should keep our ears ready for God’s correction so that we don’t end up blind to sin and hating God and all who love Him. Psalm 81:15 “Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.”

The time to hate is when we are tempted to sin. If we would allow ourselves to hate the sin every time the sin invites our participation, we would dig a rut of righteousness by standing firm and not following after sin.

In Romans 12:9, we are told plainly, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”