Sunday Morning Conviction- 9/9/12; Love or Hate

Love presupposes hate... those words struck me this morning as I sat in church. Love presupposes hate. Among the most sure ways we know that love exists is because it is easily apparent in our world that hate exists. It is impossible to love without also hating, both must be active in your life. If you express a love for something, you are saying that you hate anything that strives to harm that love. If you do not hate that which seeks to harm the thing you claim to love, one could argue that you do not truly love. We have been offered a watered down truth that hate is wrong. Hate that calls us to stand up for that which harms our love is righteous and biblical. Because God loves us, He must hate that which seeks to harm us. Because God must hate that which seeks to harm us, He must deal with it in a very serious way. If he does not act against these things, then He does not love us. But because we know that God does love us, we know He will work against those things that seek to harm us. But, also, out of His love for us, God allows us the free will to choose His love, or the things of this world that we try to use to find love. If we choose to love the things of this world, and thus place them at a higher priority in our lives that we place God, then we are telling God that we love those things, and therefore we hate God. We are allowed to make that choice, and the consequence is very clear... the wages of sin is death. To choose against God is to choose eternity apart from His love. To choose against God, is to choose Hell. Or, we can choose to place God as our priority, and ask for His help in placing Him higher that the problems of this world, and we are then choosing to live in His love... to live in His love is to follow Christ... and that is to choose an eternity in Heaven. The choice is ours to make, the details of how to make the choice, and the consequences for each choice is clearly lined out. It is a decision to made sooner rather than later. It is a decision that alters the path of our lives on a daily basis. What choice have you made... love, or hate?