The Right Response To Hate

In the last post of this series, I told you how David chose not to respond negatively to those unfriendly friends who constantly accuse and do wicked things to him.

Ps. 109:4 (NKJV)

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In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.

Despite the fact that his love for them was returned in evil, David chose to pray for them. What a great act of love! The book of Matt: 5:44 explains how we should deal with hate the Christian way. Let us explore it in detail.

Matt: 5:44 (NKJV)

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But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who cause you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

There are 5 main instructions we can take away from this:

1. Love Your Enemies

The Bible says in 1 Pet 4:8 that we should love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins. When you love your enemies deeply, you do not wish them back evil, and you don’t nurture hate against them because of a negative thing they choose to do to you. You just focus exclusively on living the Christian life and practicing the Bible.

2. Bless those who curse you

In the world today, it is common advice to pay back evil for the evil that was done to you. However, as believers in Christ Jesus, we must not pay back evil for evil. When people curse and abuse us, we bless them. When they hate us, we love them. When they hurt us, we don’t hurt back. Their curses and abuses cannot have an impact on us we have been blessed by God and no curse undermines it.

3. Do good to those who hate you

One thing you need to know is that not everyone will love you. Some people will hate you without reason and will not respond positively to the good you do. As a believer in Christ, you must keep being good to them even if they don’t reciprocate. You need to follow the example of Jesus (the pattern son), who came to give us victory over darkness. When you do, the chains of hate have no impact on you.

4. Pray for those who spitefully use you

To behave spitefully is to annoy, upset, or hurt another person because you feel angry towards them. It is common for people today to show spite at the slightest inconvenience. Like David, what we need to do is to pray. Jesus put this into practice even on the cross as He was crucified by saying: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing?” (Lk. 23:34).

5. Pray for those who persecute you

To persecute is to subject someone to hostility and ill-treatment. As more evil is rooted in the world, there is an increasing number of persecutions against Christians. As a believer in Christ Jesus, you don't have to be hostile to those who choose to persecute you because of your Christianity. You just need to pray for them. Prayer has the ability to neutralize any form of hate in you against those who persecute and maltreat you.

These five things should guide you as you interact with people. May the Lord give you strength and humility to follow His word, and by His power, every hate against you will be destroyed in Jesus' name.