I Love Hateful People

Well, at least I try to. You see, they weren’t born hateful. Like you and me, they were born self-willed, with a propensity for lying, disobeying, stealing, and hating …

You think not? How often have you watched two-year-olds playing together? All toys are theirs. And somehow, when a chunk of chocolate cake turns up missing, Mickey didn’t do it, even though there’s chocolate all over his face. Also, you don’t wanna make him mad, ‘cause he’ll make you regret it in the most ingenious ways.

You see, Mickey is a fledgling sinner, as was I, and even you. And I continued sinning until I turned my life over to its rightful Owner. That’s why I can’t, in good conscience, hate hateful people—I was one. But Jesus said to love my enemies(Matthew 5:43), and since he’s my new boss, I gotta try(and try again, and try harder). Thing is, he loved me, even when I was still his enemy, so I know he wasn’t just blowing hot air when he told us to do the same(Romans 5:8).

Will said hateful people fall all over themselves loving us back? Not likely. In fact, they’re likely to stab us in the back. We can always try avoiding them, but somehow they’ll always find us. But that doesn’t exempt us from obeying Jesus’ command, if we belong to God through Jesus’ cleansing blood. And if we don’t, it doesn’t really matter, does it?