Love and Hate Contrasted
Sunday, February 25, 2024Key Verse
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” (1 John 3:14).
Text — 1 John 3:11-18
Message
The word love involves attracting people and inspiring the spirit of give and take, caring and sharing. Hate on the other hand is the opposite of all these, repelling and eliciting the spirit of fear and distrust. Martin Luther King Jr. equates hate with darkness and love with light, saying, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” In our memory verse, love is equated with life while hate is equated with death. We see then that love symbolizes light and life but hate symbolizes darkness and death. More importantly, God is love. If you love, then you are born of God and you know Him. Anyone who lacks love is not God’s child and does not know Him (1 John 4:7, 8).
Friend, what passion dominates you? Is it love or hate? Chaos, wickedness, violence and killings occur in families, communities and nations where people take to hate instead of love. But where love is the ruling principle, there is peace. In Christ there is love and peace. Receive Him
Quote
Love symbolizes light and life
Challenge
Haters are in darkness, the camp of Satan
Prayer for today
I’d rather love than hate, so help me, God.
About Author - Pastor W.F. Kumuyi
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
