To Hate or To Love

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

TO HATE OR TO LOVE

Gen 27:39-46

39 His father Isaac answered him, "Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above. 40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck." 41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." 42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?" 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living."

NIV

Here is where that hatred turns to thoughts of murder. Jesus taught that if we hate someone in our thoughts it is the same as if we committed murder. Of course, hate is a powerful word, yet the Greek word miseo means to detest, to pursue with hatred, or it can mean to love less. However, these were the thoughts of Esau regarding the actions of his brother, a family member he grew up with, perhaps played with as young boys, yet as they grew up their interests grew apart, yet still brothers born in the same household. Jacob did not do what was right, either about Esau’s birthright, or the blessing. Is it any wonder Esau is upset, angry, and looking to enact vengeance upon his brother? But that is not our way within the body of Christ, for we have the teaching of Jesus who tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Yet, we have known believers to hold grudges even to the point of saying they would never forgive someone for what they did. Never forgive is a strong emotion that puts a person in extreme danger for as Jesus taught us how to pray and when we get to the part about forgiving our transgressions as we forgive those who transgressed against us, it becomes conditional on God forgiving us. Jesus was very clear, as Matthew records, that if we forgive people who sin against us, our heavenly Father will also forgive us, but if we do not forgive people who sin against us, that is we hold a grudge against them, our heavenly Father will not forgive our sins. That is really strong teaching, and if we are not careful, and watchful in our thoughts about others, even those who might offend us somehow, we are in extreme danger. For the most part, we are either being offensive or offended by a family member, both of our birth family and the family of God. This is why love is at the top of the list and at the bottom of the list. Faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. How can we ever allow anything within the family or the family of God to interrupt our following the word of God regarding our relationships? Esau did and as a result, Jacob had to flee for his life, leaving all he ever knew, and even his mother was disgusted with living because of the Hittite woman. We see many times that hatred existed in the people within the bible, yet we know love, including forgiveness, must be our top priority because we follow Jesus.