Sentence Sermons (Christian Inspiration) #67 --- Hatred

Hatred is slow poison to the soul.

Hatred is the seed of self-destruction.

Hatred is its own worst punishment.

Hatred is the resort of small minds.

Hatred is the stuff that war is made of.

Hatred is the rotten fruit of malice.

Hatred is the shortest route to despair.

—Roy L. Smith, Tampa Morning Tribune, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 19, 1934.

The reward of hate is a hardened heart.

—Roy L. Smith, Tampa Morning Tribune, Tampa, Fla., Dec. 26, 1933.

Love is one of the greatest of small words and the largest of all great powers. There are two great principles that control the life of man, both past and future. They are love, or the intellectual passions, and hatred, or the baser passions. Hatred tears down and destroys, being like a great fire that burns out the mettle or temper of fine steel. Love is greater than hatred because it builds up and lifts up man. Therefore love is the controlling power of life. ... Love cannot be compelled, as it takes love to beget love.

—James A. Challenner, Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, Oct. 9, 1905.

The spirit of murderous hate, unmerciful, cruel, brutal, when it takes possession of the heart of man, leaves no room for a gleam of compassion to enter. It was that spirit that caused the crucifixion of the most glorious Being, the holiest, the purest and best that ever trod the earth, that gentle Being, the Son of God–it was that spirit that crucified Him in the most ignominious manner; that spirit brought Him to that cruel death, as it had done the prophets that had preceded Him. Pitiless as the grave is that that spirit, the spirit of the evil one, when it takes possession of men, transforming those who naturally might be compassionate, who naturally might have hearts open to the appeals of mercy–transforming them into demons of hate, filled with an unquenchable desire for the blood of their fellowmen. It is that spirit that has caused murders in every age.

—George Q. Cannon, Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sept. 6, 1884.

I never knew of anything of permanent good hate ever accomplished. Hate is a destroyer; love is the creator. Every human being in this world came here because of love.

Most of those that suffer and die are the victims of hate.

So, however good any man's dreams and schemes may be, I will not join any movement to make them come true by hate.

Any fool may know if his intent be loving or hateful. And I am a fool. Underneath the stars, before the complexities of destiny, I know I am a fool.

So I can do only the safe thing--fall back on my instincts, which tell me that love, somehow, some time, shall eventuate in welfare, for me and for all men, and that hate surely brings wretchedness.

What little wisdom I have I distrust. I am not sure.

But love is God's wisdom, the compass needle of Omniscience in this cloudy sea of time, pointing, in sunny days, and in storm and stress--pointing the right way.

—Frank Crane, The Chicago Daily News, Chicago, Ill., May 29, 1919.

The most expensive indulgement is hate.

—Frank Crane, The Chicago Daily News, Chicago, Ill., Sept. 2, 1920.

Hate is the refuge of small souls. Hate is the satisfaction of weakness.

—Arthur Growden, The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, Miss., July 11, 1932.

Hate is moral poison in your life. Hate is murder concealed. Hate is the delight of Satan.

—Arthur Growden, The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, Miss., Aug. 2, 1936.

Intimidation which results in hatred is a manifestation of cowardice.

—H.W. Knickerbocker, Houston Post-Dispatch, Houston, Texas, Aug. 29, 1927.

Ill will toward others in the garden of the soul grows brambles there to wound a Deity who attempts to walk therein.

—W.A. MacKenzie, The Leesburg Morning Commercial, Leesburg, Fla., Jan. 22, 1927.

God never intended men to hate each other. If He had, the veins would be full of cold vinegar instead of warm red blood.

—W.A. MacKenzie, The Leesburg Morning Commercial, Leesburg, Fla., July 28, 1927.

If it gives you pleasure to wound another's feelings, your own needs a divine physician.

—W.A. MacKenzie, The Leesburg Morning Commercial, Leesburg, Fla., Sept. 17, 1927.

Sin and penalty are the Siamese twins of hate.

—James DeForest Murch, Christian Standard, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 11, 1942.

Hate begins a vicious cycle that rolls on and on, enlarging as it goes.

—Earl Riney, Church Management, Cleveland, Ohio, March 1941.

Hatred hangs a weight on your soul; forgiveness tosses it away.

—Earl Riney, Church Management, Cleveland, Ohio, October 1943.

Division is the mother of hatred. When we allow ourselves to have hatred for anything except Satan and sin, we are getting in danger.

—Harvey Scott, ChiIdress Index, Childress, Texas, March 19, 1925.

Hatred is a murderer who kills by slow poison.

—Ernest C. Wareing, Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 17, 1924.

Hatred always carries a boomerang.

—Ernest C. Wareing, Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 18, 1924.

Hatred with lying lips is an offspring of the devil.

—Ernest C. Wareing, Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan. 17, 1929.

Hatred is envy soured.

—Ernest C. Wareing, Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 14, 1929.

People will not work together so long as they hate each other. No, not even when their own vital interests are dependent upon harmonious action. Because hatred is blind. When one hates, the object of his hatred becomes so magnified and exaggerated before his vision, that it shuts out every other object. This blind passion striking at that which it hates, sees nothing else, and in its stupidity will destroy the most precious values.

—M. Ashby Jones, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 5, 1944.

Hatred turns up in many disguises and the most familiar among Americans today is moral indignation. ...

Moral indignation has its place in life, but don't let it spoil your intelligence. The first effect of intense anger, especially when it is indulged in by a whole social group like a nation, is to muddy the stream of clear thinking. We begin, for example, blaming our troubles on a few devils whom we hate–the Japanese, or the Germans, or the Russians. If we could only crush them, we begin saying, all would be well. But this devil theory of our world's difficulty is downright lack of clear thinking.

A vast worldwide economic system that forces us ever more interdependently to live together--that is on one side. And on the other side is an old-fashioned, absolutist nationalism that splits us up, pulls us apart and builds barriers between us. Such is the tragic contradiction and tension that underlies all our conflicts. That is the thing to keep our eyes on, and not on special devils that we hate. We need less indignation and more information, less anger and more diagnosis.

—Harry Emerson Fosdick, New York Times, New York, N.Y., Jan. 16, 1939.

Hate is a very harsh quality. More than that it is a very dangerous quality. It will destroy the human being.

Hatred is harbored by fools according to Proverbs 10:18: "He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool." ...

There are many evils which have hatred as their base. Hate stirs up strife, generates envy, causes lying, gossiping, slander, faultfinding and cutting remarks. Hate leads to resentment, bitterness, and retaliation.

The results of hatred upon its holder are devastating. Hate will rob the person of happiness. It's been said that hate and hell dwell in the same heart.

Hate someone and you will become his slave. He controls your thoughts, invades your dreams, absorbs your creativity, and determines your appetite. He affects your digestion, robs your peace of mind and good will, and takes away the pleasure of your work. He ruins your religion and he hounds you wherever you go. You cannot get away from the man you hate. He is with you when you are awake, and he invades your privacy when you eat. He is close beside you when you drive your car. He affects your attitude on the job, and distracts your mind so you can have neither efficiency nor happiness. He influences even the tone of your voice when you speak to your boss, your spouse or child. He requires you to take medicine for indigestion, headaches, and loss of sleep. If you want to be a slave to someone, find a person to hate.

Hate will harm your physical well-being and your spiritual welfare. Hate will cause you to miss heaven.

Love is the cure for hate. Vardeman Forrister offers these suggestions for overcoming hate with love. Pray for the person who is the subject of hate. It will be difficult to continue to hate one whose name you constantly call before the throne of grace. Find something good to do for the person who is resented. Some good deed will make a dent in the critical attitude and will start destroying hate. Try sincerely to understand the person who is hated. "To know all is to forgive all," is a good proverb to remember. If we walk in the shoes of others, our attitude toward them will drastically change.

Booker T. Washington said, "I will not let any man reduce my soul to the level of hatred." Solomon wrote: "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."

—David Holland, Beauregard Daily News, DeRidder, La., July 14, 1989.

[Read Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:25-32; Ephesians 5:1-2; 1 John 4:7-21.] We study about love and hate, their effect on the lives of men and women and particularly their effect on the growth of Christian men and women.

Jesus had much to say about both love and hate. In a part of the Sermon on the Mount, He said: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matthew 5:43-44.)

Some may stop here and say that they cannot do this--that they cannot love their enemies, nor do good to those who hate them, nor pray for those who persecute them. I think the Lord will then say that with His help, they can do so. He will answer them as He answered the Apostle Paul: "My grace is sufficient for thee." (2 Corinthians 12:9.)

But what about those men who do not rely upon the Lord, who just give up and let hate instead of love control them? Hate is a bad thing. Hate has brought on wars. Hate has wrecked churches, and brought about confusion and antagonism in many other groups. Hate has broken up homes and accounts for many so-called delinquent children. Hate has bankrupted businesses and caused many industrial controversies and problems.

But that is not all. What happens to the man himself who hates--who has an ingrowing grouch against others? I am sure he does not make a good Christian and that he does not grow as a Christian. But does he make a good citizen, a good employer or employee, a good professional or business man, or a good husband and father? Then I wonder what effect hate in a man's heart has on his health--his physical and mental condition generally.

You will observe that Jesus gives other important reasons why His disciples should have love and not hate in them (See Matthew 5:45-48.) Anyway, let us resolve that with the Lord's help, we will not allow the vinegar of hate to drive from us the milk of human kindness.

Ephesians 4:25-32 gives us the Apostle Paul's "put away" program for getting rid of hate. Apparently some and perhaps many of the Christian men and women at Ephesus were fussing. Clearly some of them did not love, but hated each other. Paul urged them to do right and this is his "put away" program. He said, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice."

We have all sorts and kinds of programs in our churches and Sunday Schools. How would it do to sometime have a "put away" program?

Here is something I believe we can all remember. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, it is said, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath."

That means that the Lord wants us to be in a good humor with everybody before sundown. You can find out the exact hour and minute the sun sets today by turning to the weather column of the newspaper.

—Thomas Martin Kennerly, Houston Post, Houston, Texas, Sept. 17, 1954.

Hate does awful things to us. It is antisocial and puts us in the "out" class. It makes us undesirable. It warps us. It distorts our judgment. It prevents our seeing any good in the person we do not love. It causes us to twist everything that our supposed enemy says or does so that it has a sinister meaning. It inflates our ego. We develop a martyr complex.

If we are vigorous in our hate we will attract followers. The morally weak will see in our flames heat to make them burn and attract attention. If we are powerful enough in our hate people will be afraid of us and let us have our way rather than oppose us. This tends to give us a self-righteous feeling. Little fellows gather around us and good people letting us have our way soon cause us to claim to be infallible in our hate.

Our hated person is hurt in a car accident, or his little boy falls out of a tree and breaks an arm and we point to all of this as proof that God and we are one in this hate. We recall the evil things which have happened to those we have hated and claim that this is God punishing the people we hate. Beware of these men who ascend their holy mountains and come down with their own particular commandments.

Hate builds an ever narrowing wall about us and only those can enter our gates who breathe our poison atmosphere. Hate's music is written in sharps and is shrill and cacophonous. Its very lack of sweetness attracts attention, but people do not stay long to listen.

He who hates strong enough, loud enough, and bold enough, will become the leader of timid souls who attribute their failure to some imagined injustice. There is a beautiful poem which rebukes those who hate, a few lines of which we dare to quote:

 "Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh not evil."

—Floyd Poe, Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, Aug. 21, 1953.