love and hate

Psalm 97:10
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Why is it so many people say that hate is the opposite of love?

Apparently they have never read their Bible.

There are many verses that reflect both God's love and the truth that He also hates sin at the same time.  Matter of fact, God is Love.  How can hate be the opposite of love if God is capable of hate?

Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 16:22
You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. 

Proverbs 6:16
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

Psalm 11:5
The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.


Malachi 2:16
“For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”


The truth is that love is really about self-LESS-ness.  So the opposite of selflessness would actually be self-ISH-ness.  Hate then, is actually a component of love. 

If you love someone selflessly, then your going to hate things that hurt that person. 

We are also instructed to both love and hate at the same time.

Notice how scripture tells us to hate things such as sin, wickedness, evil, and money; as well as sinful behaviors such as idolatry, immorality, etc...

Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Amos 5:15
Hate evil, love good;

Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9


Hate can be a component of self-ISH-ness as well.   Selfishness can lead to hating people, something we are admonished NOT to do...

1 John 4:20
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.