Introduction to Daily Blade

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Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .

Exploring Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

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Good to have you back , guys . This week on the Daily Blade we are focusing on Ecclesiastes 3 , verses 1 through 8 . I'll read it again here A time to break down and a time to build up . A time to weep and a time to laugh . A time to mourn and a time to dance . A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together . A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing . A time to seek and a time to lose . A time to keep and a time to cast away . A time to tear and a time to sew . A time to keep silence and a time to speak . A time to love and a time to sow . A time to keep silence and a time to speak . A time to love and a time to hate . A time for war and a time for peace .

Love vs Hate in Modern Context

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So , specifically , today we're keying in on the first part of verse 8 , a time to love and a time to hate . So , as is true with the entire passage that we're looking at in Ecclesiastes , there is a juxtaposition with each line , so the words are different sides of the same coin , I guess . So you have weep versus laugh . You have mourn versus dance . I mean , yes , baptist dancing is allowed . You have keep versus cast away , but in my opinion the juxtaposition in the first part of verse eight is the most striking Love versus hate .

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So in our modern moment , everything seemingly is about love . So we're constantly told by people that don't believe in God and don't read the Bible that we are to love our neighbor . We are simultaneously told that love is love , even if the love being expressed is contrary to God and to nature . And if we don't boldly proclaim that is truth , then we are called a hater . Right and beyond that . The terms love and hate are just kind of thrown around willy-nilly , right . I mean we'll say things like dude , I love this pizza , or man , I hate that band , or something like that . So in a lot of ways we've lost the appropriate categories for love and hate , because culture has co-opted those words from God and because we use them cheaply . Right .

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But for us as Christians , we have to make sure that we have right thinking and right actions as it pertains to love and hate , because in order to be a true follower of God , we must love what God loves and hate what God hates . I mean Paul essentially says that in his letter to the church in Rome . So in Romans 12

Biblical Commands on Love

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, 9 , the ESV titles the beginning of the section marks of a true Christian , and the first line is Romans 12 , 9, . Let love be genuine , abhor what is evil , hold fast to what is good . So how can love be genuine right ?

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The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 4 , beloved , let us love one another , for love is from God , and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God . Anyone who does not love does not love God , because God is love . In this . The love of God has made manifest among us , and God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him . In this is love , not that we have loved , but that God . He loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins . And specifically , we are supposed to love . And how are we supposed to love and to what level ?

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So Jesus tells us , when he's answering the question of the Pharisees' lawyer that we see in Matthew 22 , 36 through 40 . Teacher , which is the great commandment in the law ? And he said to him this is Jesus , you shall love the Lord , your God , with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . This is the great and first commandment , and the second is like it , you shall love your neighbor as yourself . On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets .

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So , yes , there is certainly a time to love , but what about

Understanding Righteous Hatred

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hate ? Again , going back to Romans 12 , 9 , abhor . What is evil ? Now , abhor isn't a common word anymore , but it just means to regard with horror , or to loathe , or to detest or to hate , To which you might wonder are you sure ? I mean ? That sounds really mean , doesn't it ? Aren't we , as Christians , supposed to just love everybody and everything ? I mean , if you go back to the Daily Blade week starting on June , the 23rd of this year , I spend an entire week on this subject , but the center point of that week was Psalm 97 , specifically verse 10 .

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Oh , you who love the Lord hate evil . Now , to be clear , this is not personal malice , okay . This isn't untethered anger at something or someone . This is righteous hate that is generated inside of us because we have aligned our love and our hate to a God loves and hates . So if you are aligned with God , you will love your neighbor as yourself and also hate . If your neighbor hurts an innocent child , you will love it when you see a young gal remain chaste when a culture tells her to be a whore , and you will hate it when another gal decides to find acceptance in the arms of a new man every night . You will love it when someone puts their faith in Christ and you will also hate it when someone is blasphemous towards him . There is a time to love and a time to hate . We must be ready for both .

Closing and Call to Action

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Thank you for listening to today's episode . Be ready for both . Thank you for listening to today's episode . Before you go , if you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .