Imagine a man deeply in love with a woman. He adores her, celebrates her, honors her, and pours his heart out for her. He lives with intense passion.
Now imagine some threat to that love, some obstacle that gets in its way, some evil that undermines it. How would he respond? Not with apathy. In fact, an apathetic response would cause us to question his love and devotion. It would be a sign that something is seriously wrong. A man who loves deeply will hate just as deeply when something gets in the way of his love.
That’s why Scripture speaks often of God’s hatred for evil, for apathy, for everything that seeks to interfere with his love for his people—even when it’s in their own hearts. It isn’t that he hates his people, of course. But his love compels him to respond with passion against anything that violates it. A casual response to sin and deception would signal something is wrong. But the God of love could never be casual about threats to his heart’s desires.
If you want to be like God, learn not only to love what he loves; hate what he hates. Hate is an ugly word, but without it, love loses its meaning. Hate everything that violates his goodness, everything that draws people away from him, everything that interferes with his desire to lavish blessing upon his beloved. You’ll find your heart aligning with his and beating for the same purpose. And your love will take on an entirely new dimension.
