Walk In Love And Learn To Hate
By: Mark Alyabyev
I love eating sweets, but I also love staying skinny. Unfortunately, I can only choose one and not both. I either have to walk in the way of “eating sweets” or the way of “staying skinny.” Simply stated: love for one thing excludes love for another. A more serious example would be: I love children, therefore I do not love (do not tolerate/hate) abuse of children.
When the Bible states that we are to “walk in love,” it means that we are to imitate Jesus and His sacrificial example. It does not mean that we are to be all-accepting and tolerant. While many may think that tolerance is a quality of love – you won’t find it in 1 Corinthians 13. As an example of walking in love the Bible lists things that we should avoid, such as immorality, impurity, covetousness, etc. Because I love God, I will not tolerate sin. If I love sin, I will not be able to walk in love. Will you remove all those things which prevent you from walking in love?
Love what God loves and hate what God hates.
“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”
(Ephesians 5:2-3 ESV)