Hatred.
What Is It?
Google would say it’s simple. You type it in and you get one definition: ‘an intense dislike; hate.’ That is all Google defines it as. There isn’t much to say in terms of an actual definition I guess. Someone else defined hatred as ‘ill will or resentment that is usually mutual: prejudiced hostility or animosity.’
However, from my point of view, hatred is yet another strong and deep emotion. I believe it takes a lot to go from just disliking someone or something to hating it/them. Hatred is as strong as love — they’re both powerful emotions that can cut very deep within us.
How Does It Feel?
We have all felt hatred in ourselves at some point right? Whether it be for ourselves or towards someone else. It could be that we hate something about ourselves — for example, I used to hate my lips but it was partly because other people around me made me feel like they were an ugly feature of mine. I have also felt hatred towards people at different points in my life, this is due to what these people did to me and how they offended me. Have you ever felt hate towards someone? If so, how did it feel? Did it feel good? Did it feel bad? Why did you hate this person? Have you ever hated yourself? If so, why?
I personally have felt a wave of hate towards myself — due to mistakes I made, bad decisions etc. These situations took place due to subconscious behaviour — I wasn’t thinking and the consequences led to me hating myself & it felt painful. It took my mind to a dark room and a wave of sadness came over me. This is what hatred can do to a person, trust me it doesn’t feel good at all. Do you feel like someone has ever hated you? Hate causes you to hold grudges and lack forgiveness. This is something that shouldn’t sit well with your spirit. It’s not good to hold grudges.
I asked some people about their perspective of hatred:
‘Hatred is an extreme emotion just like love. Even when you hate somebody, you can still love them. But when you love someone, you cannot hate them.’
‘I carried hate in my heart until recently. A friend of mine advised me and others to go and apologise to those who had done me wrong. This was a challenge for me. There were people I genuinely hated and I wished death upon. I realised when I hated people I carried anger in my heart, I was angry all the time and it was weighing down my spirit. When I blessed it out with most people I felt lighter, now I feel happier . Although you may think carrying hate is carrying strength, if anything it is just weighing you down.
‘I can’t say I’ve hated someone because hating someone could mean you wish negative things upon them or every time someone mentions them or you see their name it makes your skin crawl. I think hate is for the evil and someone with a good heart doesn’t have it in them to hate.’
‘I don’t have much of an opinion on hatred. Hatred is damaging, yes I have hated people. For example, I hated my ex because she cheated on me — I allowed her into my life, she took this for granted and abused the privilege. I realised hating that person won’t change the past, so now I currently don’t hate anyone and I will try not to. It requires too much energy to hate someone and I’d rather put that energy into something productive. For me carrying hatred feels a burden, a consistent anger and rage, like a weight on your shoulders. It isn’t healthy, but then again sometimes it can’t be helped.’
‘I would say that I’ve never hated anyone. I feel like the word “hate” is a strong word and can’t be used lightly. For me I feel like there’s no such thing as hatred, it’s more of a strong feeling of dislike towards an individual. For example, when someone says “i hate her/him”, it’s possibly because the person’s been hurt by them and just feels a strong feeling of dislike towards them now. I don’t believe you can go from liking or loving someone to hating them, because even if your head tells you that you hate them, I feel like you would still have love for them. Or similarly I genuinely don’t believe anyone carries hate in their heart.’
Why Hate When You Can Love?
Hate is like giving someone poison, and waiting for them to drink it.
Why do you carry hate in your heart, why do you struggle to get rid of the hatred that you have towards people? Hate causes anger and rage, and as Buddha once said ‘You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.’ Let’s think about this from a spiritual perspective — how can you carry so much hatred in your heart towards those who have offended you… does God hate you for all the sins you have committed? No. Every time you do something wrong and you ask for forgiveness… God provides. You, that you hate someone, does it give you a positive feeling? Does it bring you joy? I’m going to assume the answer is no. Hm okay.
Ephesians 4:31 says: ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.’ The Bible tells us that we should get rid of the negative feelings, all the attributes that come along in a package of hatred.
Luke 6:27 says: ‘But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.’ This is just saying that even when people do you wrong — show them love regardless, pray for them regardless. If you act like this, God will make sure you reap from your actions. Why hate when you can love? Thank you.
