“How To Handle the Hate”

In John 15, Jesus teaches an important lesson about how to respond when people hate us because of our discipleship to Jesus. We are to respond not with retribution, not with anger, not with hatred—we are to respond with love. As disciples of Jesus, we are at war. But we’re not at war with the media, not with special interest groups we don’t like, not with the government, and certainly not with people. We are at war with the Kingdom of sin and death and separation from God. You are a disciple of Jesus—and disciples of Jesus are different. Through Christ’s love and sacrifice, we are set free from the Kingdom of sin and death and invited into the Kingdom of Heaven right now. As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are called to love those who hate us.