Love and Hate — Give and Take

Love is such a misunderstood thing. Spot the odd one out

• Love for God
• Love for your wife
• Love for your kids
• Love for your brother
• Love for your sister
• Love for those in need
• Love for your country
• Love for those close to you
• Love for your money

If you pick "Love for your money," you're dead right! Love of money is the root of all evil.



There is also a definitive distinction between love for the needy, love for brother, and love for girlfriend.
Theologians, who know Greek, call the first "agapao" (a verb), the second "phileo", and the last "thumos".


Examples of acts of love and hate are

Love	Hate
give good (charity)	take away good (theft)
allow aid to reach the needy	prevent aid from reaching the needy
save a life	take a life
give to your posterity	take from your posterity

It's about give and take. Sometimes a decision is difficult, but all you have to do is think about love. Am I, on the long run, giving something good, or am I taking away something good? When I teach my child to look before he crosses the street, and he does not want to listen, is it an act of hate when I punish him? Of course not.



When my loved ones are doing acts of hate, and I try to prevent them, am I doing good? Of course.



When your mother cries her eyes out because of your lifestyle, are you doing acts of love or hate?



Whenever you have the question: "Is so-and-so a sin?" you simply ask the question, "Am I doing more harm than good, or am I doing more good than harm?" Is this an act of love for God or man, or is this an act of hate towards God or man?



It is sometimes difficult to know if your deed is an act of love, or an act of hate. For example, if an intoxicated person on the street asks money for a hotdog, and you see him buy and enjoy a hotdog, then certainly it was an act of love, but if he's often seen drunk on the street, and you know that he's used your money to buy alcohol in the past, you'd be unsure if you must help him with more money. If you can put yourself in his shoes, you'll are closer to the answer. It's a form of intercession.



The agapao kind of love is also our love for God and his love in us. You can measure your love for God by how much you admire and obey his commandments.



1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.



1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.



1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.