It is common to think of love and hate as opposites.
Most people live their whole lives thinking that love and hate are as opposite as dogs and cats, salt and pepper or chocolate and vanilla. And they are. They are opposites in exactly the same way. They appear to be opposite, but they are not truly opposite like big and small, light and dark, near and far.
There are many things that God hates, and yet God in His very nature is love.
Love hates.
1st Corinthians chapter 13 is the very definition of love in action, and to do the opposite of those words is not to “hate” someone, but to be impatient with them, be unkind to them, envy them, put them below you, be rude to them, be angry with them, remember their faults, rejoice when they fall, fail to protect them, not trust them, and basically give up on them. Some of these things are pretty subtle, and most of them do not rise to the level of hating someone.
Love is self sacrifice.
We show love to our friends and family through small sacrifices of patience and kindness. Jesus showed ultimate love for us by His complete sacrifice through His life and death.
The opposite of love is not hate, it is selfishness. It is “me first,” “mine!,” “shut up,” and “whatever!” The opposite of love is evil.
We are to live our lives following God. We are to become more like Him. We are to constantly measure ourselves against the standard of who He is. In God’s character we find the truth, and the truth will make us free.
We can not be nicer than God. We must learn what God hates, and we must hate it, too.
Wrote a song about it:
Who is that skinny guy in the Underdog shirt?