1 John 2:9-11 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Dear Fellowship of the Burning Heart:

Hate – what an ominous word! It strikes at the core of our being. It is strongly connected to anger, revenge, bitterness, spite, rage, and animosity. It be found lurking in the dark recesses of our mind and will pounce out in overwhelming force at the slightest invitation. When it takes hold, there is no telling the damage that it can inflict. It is diametrically opposed to love.

You can tell that this is John the Apostle, the author of the Gospel of John, the three letters (including this one), and Revelation. The buzz words that give us the clue include: light, darkness, love, hate, live or abide or remain (same word in the Greek), and know. These words carry great meaning to faith for the Apostle. He also connects them often, as here with love and light, darkness and hate. Walking in the light is walking in love and walking in darkness is walking in hate. The antitheses stand in stark contrast.

Also, we see another false claim. Just as before, talk is cheap. This apostle wants you to show it if you know it – to produce what you profess, to convey what you claim. It is utterly incompatible for someone to claim to walk in the light and live with hatred in the heart. In Matthew 25 we see that the actions of those who inherit the kingdom and those who won’t. The kingdom seekers gave food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, a welcome to the stranger, and clothes to the needy. The kingdom opposition did not. In other words, love is very practical. It is not enough to claim to be loving, to feel loving, to be proclaimed loving. We must reveal a loving heart in loving deeds.

A loving approach does not cause us to stumble. We stumble when we are unaware of an obstacle over which we trip. Now, if we harbor hatred in our hearts, we will invariably stumble into situations where its venom seeps out. Hatred is an obstacle in our lives, and we will continue to stumble over it as long as it is allowed to remain. We also will cause others to stumble, because our hatred will be an obstacle over which they stumble and will turn away from us and the faith.

Proverbs 10:12 ESV Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
Proverbs 17:9 ESV Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
1 Peter 4:8 ESV Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Love covers offenses or sins is another way of saying that love promotes forgiveness, that it finds a way to overlook faults, that it refuses resentment and grudges (See 1 Corinthians 13). Hatred stirs up strife and hostility, shares the faults and failures of others to bring hurt and pain, and refuses to forgive.

Blinded by hate and blind with rage are expressions which could have come from the Apostle John, because that is the picture he presents of the person who allows hate to control him. Darkness has blinded him and he stumbles around in the dark.

We are not children of the darkness but children of the light. We must walk in the light and love one another.