Hate As A Good Thing

Luke 14:26 tells us this:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

At first, it would seem that this verse contravenes other commands from God in the Bible, such as, “Honor your father and mother.” Let’s look at another translation, the Amplified Bible.

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters--[yes] and even his own life also--he cannot be My disciple.

This lays it out a little clearer. God is once again repeating the greatest commandment. We are to have no other gods before him. We are not actually to despise or loathe our own family members. We, instead, are to just not esteem them more than our God. God isn’t just talking about family members either. We must also count our own life as nothing when compared with our relationship to God.

This is hard. We often don’t want to give up little comforts for God and He demands our whole life. Not just little comforts, either. How many of us have our favorite sin. You know, that one thing that you do that no one knows about. You justify it to yourself. You say, “But it’s just a small sin.” “No one knows about it.” “God will forgive me.”

I have one. It has reached the point of being habitual. For years I've ignored/enjoyed it. Now, I want free of it and it has wormed its’ way so deeply into me that it is proving painful to try and get rid of it.

Which leads me to the next verse. Luke 14:27, which says:

And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

What is your cross? Each cross is different. For some, their cross would appear not that hard to bear, get up Sunday morning and make it to church. We don't see the stigma that church attendance might have in their lives. For others it is just maintaining their beliefs under threat of prison or death. Mine it would appear is to fight this sin that I hold on to so dearly, also to write and express the thoughts that God would have me share. The last couple of posts that I have put up have been cop-outs, things that have caught my eye and let me post, but with no creative input from me. God has given me gifts and talents, but I persist in not using them.

There is an old proverb, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” I actually believe this. I think that this whole writing gig would have been much easier had I started doing it in high school or college, when I had actually taken a grammar or creative writing class. Now, I’m here trying to flex the old mental muscle and at the same time be sensitive to what God wants me to write. To coin another phrase, “It ain’t easy, brother.”

“Father, I beg your forgiveness. First, I need it for my sin. Be merciful to me, chief of sinners. Also, Lord, forgive me for wasting the talent which you have blessed me with. Now that I seek to use my talent in service to you, please show me the way and let me touch those around me. Lord, let me have no gods before you and let me hate all else. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”