What is hatred?  I usually like to focus on lovey things, but this morning the Holy Spirit asked me to write about Hatred. 

This verse to follow has always gotten my attention.  To be honest, I really never thought about what the true definition of Hate is.  I was thinking that it was an extreme or harsh reality.  I often also have to deal with a bit of naivety.  It has always been hard for me to comprehend that people actually are capable of hating.  I do get frustrated by people sometimes,  but ultimately I see their soul and I see their pain, sadness or trauma and I just want to see them healed by Jesus in their inner parts.  I do however have to face the reality that hate is a real thing cause Here it is addressed directly in this scripture. 

1 John 4:20 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Yikes, this is a very adamant and final defining of what it means for people who hate.  So we really cannot have Love for Father if we have hate in our hearts.  I have no real words for how this makes me feel. 

Do you even know the true definition of hate?  I really had never thought of it until the Holy Spirit told me to look it up.  This definition is from Wikipedia

Hatred is a feeling. It can cause an angry, or resentful emotional response, which can be used against certain people, or ideas. Hatred is often associated with feelings of anger, disgust and a disposition towards the source of hostility. Wikipedia

Here is a definition from the common dictionary from online.

hate

/hāt/

verb

1. feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone).

“the boys hate each other”

noun

1. intense or passionate dislike.

“feelings of hate and revenge”

See having a strong dislike for someone would not have been what I would have defined hate as.  I always thought of hate as wanting that person to forever suffer in hell.  See that is harsh in my opinion.  I have felt dislike for some people, its usually people who have lied about me or hurt my heart in deep cutting ways.  I have never wanted to see these people suffer in hell, but I prefer not to see these people in my journey here in the physical plane while sill on Earth.  I do want them to find the saving grace of Jesus and have their inner heart healed of all the pain they endure to have encouraged them to be mean and aggressive towards others.  I also realize that these people often have open doors to allow demons to come on in and use them to attack the children of God.

Here in Ephesians 6 we find these passages.

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against ^[e]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

This passage reminds us that we are in a battle in the spirit realm and the physical realm is more of a response to what is really going on, on the inside.  So now that we have defined hate, and we understand that hate in someone’s heart means that they are not in love with God.  So what do we do if we find ourselves in this spot?  We definitely need help from Jesus.  The enemy wants full control and possession of your heart.  What will it be, will you concede and let the darkness rule you, control you and use you to bring about death and separation from you and your creator, or will you ask Jesus to completely come over you in a lovely rule of your heart, which will bring about complete inner healing, empower you in love and change your whole existence whilst on this Earth forever? 

So, I was reading in the book “He Came to Set the Captives Free” By Rebecca Brown, M.D.  In this book is the following quote: “Hatred is a conscious sin.  As such, it gives Satan legal ground in our lives if we permit it to dwell in our hearts.  If you hate someone, Satan can step in and use your spirit body to attack the person you hate.  Such an attack can produce all sorts of illness, accidents, emotional problems, and even physical death.  The person doing the hating usually is never aware that Satan is using his spirit body.  The person being hated usually has no idea where his trouble is really coming from.”

SAY WHAT!!!!  Ok, for some of you this may push the outer limits of reality.  That is ok, I challenge you to pray and ask for revelation from the Holy Spirit on this, in fact, everyone reading this should pray and ask for direct insight from the Holy Spirit on this!!!  So now for the harsh dose of reality!!!  Two things I gathered from this, 1. If we hate people and even remain quiet about it, we are opening up our souls to darkness and allowing them to use us to really hurt or even kill others.  2. This harsh reality hit me over the head with I could be the recipient of the hatred from other.  Yikes!!!

Have you ever been suddenly hit with emotional wrought?  What about a sudden onset of illness?  Usually when something like this hits us, normal medical responses don’t always work.  I know I have experienced this.  I also for sure, do not want to ever invoke such pain on another human being!!! 

Words, thoughts, emotions can be very powerful.  We must be careful.  We must have self-control.  We really must be in complete submission to the Holy Spirit!!!  We must be strong and battle ready.  How you might ask?  We must submit ourselves to Jesus, accept His salvation of our soul.  We must repent and we must be full of gratitude and much praise to Jesus for what He has done for us.  The word of God is powerful.  It is living and it does amazing things in the spirit realm.  We must keep our minds in a constant state of control, taking all thoughts captive.  We find reference to this in 2 Corinthians 10

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but ^[b]divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

^7 [c]You are looking at ^[d]things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.

Ultimately, we must remember who we are and who Jesus is.  We must be humble and thankful.  We will be used by God to do amazing battles in the spirit realm as long as we walk in submission and obedience to Jesus.  We must constantly evaluate our heart and ask for Jesus to heal it and set us straight.  When we do go under attack, first remember that Jesus also went under attack, ask for help from Jesus and others you trust, are we not asked to bear one another’s burdens?

Galatians 6:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

² Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

Then we must take our thoughts captive, sing out to the lord in praise and worship in thanksgiving.  We are not entitled people!!!  Every good thing we receive from the lord is a gift and not something we demand!!  We are in a humble place.  As a result, we will be lifted up in power and we will be great warriors for Jesus, both here and in the spirit realm.  It is not witchcraft when the Holy Spirit is doing it all and we are just willing vessels.

It is very important to be aware of our own hearts and how they can be used for good or evil.  For me, I always want my heart, my soul, my spirit to be used for the glory of God and by God, nothing else.  In order for this to be true I really must put on the armor of God daily, pray without ceasing, have scripture upon my heart and spoken out in my environment and make daily shouts out to the Lord of praise, gladness and thanksgiving.  This is not all inclusive, it is what I felt led to share with you though.  As we seek God, we WILL find Him.

 I am so thankful he loved me and died for me.  It is amazing love and then on top of salvation He gives us amazing power to fight for truth and justice. 

We were created for love, not hate!!  We are told to love even our enemies!!  In 1Corinthians 13 we find this passage on love.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ^7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.⁸ Love never fails;

Just like here on earth, the story sort of begins with the capacity to hate.  Because of the love of Jesus, we find that we can end this story on the note of LOVE.  Let that be our goal for now on.  Let us commit to walking in union with Jesus; Letting the Holy Spirit rule and reign in our lives, allowing us to submit and walk in obedience to God.  How can we go wrong when we let the Holy Spirit light our path?  Do you know that God knows the future, so He knows the best and safest path for us?  Let the Holy Spirit guide you through the minefield of life so we can rise up complete at the end of our journey!!

Remember LOVE WINS, GOD IS LOVE!!!