Sometimes in our lives, we encounter the wrong that people do, and we react strongly against it. We can even find ourselves hating someone for their actions. 

Is hating a person ever a right response? No. Christ Jesus’ admonition to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) leaves no room for doubt as to how hate must be addressed. The spiritual authority behind these words is the Christ, the message of God’s infinite love for all of us, which meets the human need. And with it, Jesus healed all kinds of moral and physical suffering.

When we submit to hatred in any form, whether selfishness, discrimination, or revenge, it is detrimental, both to our own health and to the progress of society. Aggression can blind us to love. But the nature of God as Love and eternal good is the real, spiritual nature of all of us. As God’s creation, we are the very expression of divine Love. And we can truly live this love and let it uplift our experience wherever needed. Through God’s love we can keep hatred from taking root in our thinking.