The Bible on Hatred

My father ran into a hard verse that bothered him, and asked what it could mean. Here it is: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, wife, and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.' Luke 14:26-27

A hard verse indeed. My Apologetics study Bible explains it this way: Jesus' point was not that all who follow him must sever all ties with family relations, but rather that nothing, not even family, should be allowed to keep one from discipleship.' We need to understand that as our Creator and Savior, God has the right to demand that He come first in our lives.

Again: AS GOD, HE HAS THE RIGHT

The Word is summed up in this command, that we love our neighbor as ourself, Galatians 5:14

'So' the agnostic asks, 'we shouldn't hate our family?'

That's not what Jesus was implying. He never advocates the hatred of others, but only the hatred of sin. In the Luke verse, Jesus' statement was intentionally shocking to drive home His point that God must be put first, even before family, that we must become His disciples. We can only do this if we obey His word, which advocates love, even love of our enemies.By using potent challenging language, Jesus made clear His design not that we hate each other, but that everyone, even ourselves, must come second to Him. HE HAS THE RIGHT