As people most of what we experience involves our emotions. We experience love, hurt, anxiety, stress, anger, jealousy, happiness, joy, and a whole lot of growing experiences that we will endure and repeat as we travel through this thing called life. We can’t begin to comprehend the spiritual breadth of life with just our minds. It’s an experience entangled and weaved in our very nature.
The spiritual world creates situations and circumstances in the physical world that prompts us to evolve. And evolving is what we sometimes call maturing. The spiritual element of life awakens us to what we need to see; it nudges us further along our path, and brings us closer to what we are to become.
How we feel about ourselves is determined a whole lot about what we see around us, and the people we observe and associate with. We compare and adjust to what we believe is the determining factor of what we consider to be our own ideals.
But each coincidence, each little adjustment, each little setback, and each stepping stone along our path, directs us to become aware of something more, something deeper, and a realization of “God is always in control”.
Some might not be able to see the spiritual complexities of what we are destined to be. They look at us from the outside, and determine what we are to be. They may even attempt to caution us, or deter us to what they believe our worth is. Their interpretation of “ourselves” can magnify a shame within us that can threaten our self-stability. If we aren’t careful, we may find ourselves wanting their qualities, so called successes, or possessions. When we do this, we’re looking outside of what God intended for us. We’re comparing ourselves to someone else. We’re constantly believing in another person’s view of us, and disbelieving in ourselves. We look in the mirror and dislike or skin, our hair, our size, our build, even our windows to the world.
But, brothers and sisters, God alone has already determined our destiny. He made us all special.
Song of Solomon 1:5-6 states: “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
My message today is: Don’t let Hate Spoil your Great!
The Great King Ramses II, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Shonda Rimes, Michael Jackson, Queen of Sheba- Makeda, Mae Jemison, Misty Copeland, and President Barak Obama.
These are: King, Entrepreneur, Producer, Writer, Singer/composer, Queen, Scientist, Ballerina, and President of the United States.
What could all these great black people have in common? I’ll tell you.
They all had haters, blockers, discouragers, non-believers, controls, and restraints.
Leviticus 19:17 states: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.
Just in case you didn’t know, or just in case you hadn’t heard, or just in case you missed that class; “haters are gonna hate”.
This simply means that people who don't like you will always find a reason to dislike you, no matter what the reason may be. It’s a trend that’s been around from the beginning of time as we know it. Whether we like it or not, it does carries a bit of truth, because there will always be someone around who just don’t like you.
It’s not anything you’ve done. It’s not anything you’ve said. They just don’t like you! Maybe they don’t like the way you wear your hair, or because you walk like this, or talk like that. These people have appointed themselves to be one of your haters for some unknown or unwarranted reason.
But what if you thought of it this way? What if a hater is just a person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success? So rather than be happy, they make a point of finding a flaw or two in that person. We know, no one is perfect, but somehow we let these little things bother us. We let haters get in our head.
Brothers and sisters, Hating on someone can just be a deeply embedded hate for one’s own self. It’s not exactly jealousy although it could be in some cases.
But usually the hater doesn’t really want to be the person or to be like the person he or she hates; rather the hater wants to knock the person they hate down a notch. And believe me; they will keep at it until they find a way to be sure you stay down. They want to convince you that you are somehow inferior.
But I say once again, God made us all special!
Hate is not just in the outside world. Hate makes its way into God’s church too. When others put down your beliefs and faith, we have to work at our Christian response.
Let God’s words be our guide, and never respond in kind. Sometime it only takes a prayer for them, so that God pricks their heart. Other times you may want to offer to pray with them. But in all cases you place them in God’s hands.
Don’t allow them to drag you down. Don’t allow them to steal your great. These people are designed to distract and discourage you from your mission. And for every hater, there are a whole lot of other people who love and appreciate you.
In John 13:34-35 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
I truly can’t understand how people, that should have Jesus in their hearts, can be so hateful and hurtful, towards one another? How can they be so impatient and angry at each other? And so intolerant, with someone that they themselves have characterized as being a person not good enough to be called a friend, and quite often, for no good reason?
I’ve lived long enough to witness people in the church, go out of their way to destroy one of God’s children. I’ve seen Christians hurt, criticize, gossip, and judge each other even while sitting in the sanctuary or worst yet, standing behind the pulpit.
God help us all! AMEN
Here we are in God’s temple (His Church) putting down one of His children, looking down on them. Humiliating them right in in God’s church. Who gives us the right to throw stones?
Why do we insist on hating each other for no good reason, when we are essentially on the same team? We already have the devil that hates each and every one of us, and sometimes I think some of us want to inadvertently switch and join up with the Devil in order to feel free to hate their neighbor.
Some even show hate, just to be able to make someone feel low and somehow unworthy. These are sad and misled individuals. AMEN
In my sermon on “Facing your 10ft Challenge, we learned about a shepherd boy named David. David is simply a man of faith who believes first and foremost in the God he worships, and trusts him to act. Before his challenge, he was just a gifted musician, handsome, and a man of valour.
As he follows Gods path, we join in on the celebration of David’s victory in defeating the Philistine giant Goliath. God used David to defeat the Philistines, and if you were an Israelite, regardless of your position or stature, you should have been a part of this celebration, because what happened was surely worth celebrating. What happened was an act of God through a shepherd boy. Because they were so happy, the women would celebrate with a song about David’s victory.
1 Samuel 17:45 states “ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
Yes, David did slew the Giant, and because the women would sing a song that celebrated David instead of Saul, he would become angry.
Now, in the mind of King Saul the women went a little overboard and threw “him” under the bus, because they composed, and sang this song, that didn’t sit well with him.
He didn’t care for the words in this particular song, which went “…Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” We might say King Saul was kind of jealous.
1 Samuel 18:6-7 says: “And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
In other words, this song that they sang made Saul look bad, and from that day forward he kept his eye on David. He was bitter for no good reason. Remember it was Saul that tried to suit David up in his armor. Was he being sarcastic when he sent him on his way? Did he in some way hope he’fail, and then got upset because he didn’t? In either case, Saul started hating on David.
1 Samuel 18:8 states: “ And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
• Haters Will Keep Their Eyes On You.
• If you’re making an impact on people’s lives, you will . . . (not might) . . . attract haters.
• If you’re successful, they’re going to find or make up bad things to tweet about you.
• If you’re happy, they will find a way to make you unhappy, even if it’s a lie.
• If you want to do good in life, they will continue to poke at you to find a way to bring you to the evil working s of the devil.
• Haters very nature of their being is to discourage you and damage you as a Christian.
But Ecclesiastes 3:13 says: “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
When it comes to haters you can never fully escape them and the only way to live hater free is to never do anything worthwhile. But they probably will still find a way to hate on you.
In the church,
• If you never announce your calling to preach,
• If the pastor never appoints you to the deacon.
• If you never want to be a trustee.
• If you never want to work in a ministry,
• If you are never called on to sing a solo,
• If you are never called on to recite a poem or do a speech,
• If you never want to attend bible study
You may (I said may) get by with little to no haters to put up with.
Outside of the church,
• If you or your children never receive that Associates, Bachelors, Masters, or PhD.,
• If you never marry that successful spouse.
• If you never marry that God spirited spouse,
• If you never purchase that expensive car,
• If you never move into that big beautiful home,
You might, and I do mean might, get by with little to no hate.
But don’t count on it. Haters have their eye on you. Just like Saul had on David.
1 Samuel 18:9 states: “And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
Brothers and sisters, there are people who want to put you in a box. And they will become greatly offended if you should attempt to move out of the box that THEY (not God) placed you in.
When you started out, you might have wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, but in their mind they just don’t see you as such. Even though they really don’t have much to do with your life’s decisions, they would greatly appreciate it, if you would just tone it down a bit, They would like you to do what THEY think you are capable of doing, no more, but even less, if they decide it should be that way.
However, once you dare decide to step out the box they have placed you in, they will have their eyes on you from that day forward.
My wife has always inspired our daughters to not listen to people telling them what they can’t do because they are girls. She reminds them of a time in her life when just about everyone around her was telling her what she could not do because she was a young mother.
She didn’t listen to those haters and discouragers, and she knocked down all those blocked doors and untied all those ties that would bind her. She listened to God’s words, not those that would see her fail.
Now please don’t assume that everybody who disagrees with you is a hater. No, not everyone hates you. Every once in a while there’s somebody who is simply telling the truth about you.
You’ll know who they are because they usually won’t appoint themselves to keeping a close eye on you every time you step out of your house, in the way King Saul did David. They’ll be God’s angels that are there to stir you in the right direction.
Yes, King Saul developed a hatred for David, and it was a spiteful hatred. Saul’s mind was filled with suspicion towards David. Saul viewed almost everything that David said or did as being something suspicious. Any thoughts that Saul had concerning David was twisted thoughts. You might say that the Devil had a hold of Saul. AMEN
A lot of us have probably experienced or seen this type of hatred, and the sad thing about it is, it can even be from a family member, or friend. It can be the very one you expected to love you.
David loved King Saul, almost as a father. And rightly so, because in the beginning of it all, Saul was actually a good king, he was humble and he had a humble spirit. As we read about Saul, when the Prophet Samuel invited Saul to have lunch with him in order to inform him that God had chosen him to be king, he displayed a humble spirit. Saul humbly replied, Am I not a Benjamite, I belong to a small tribe and my family is poor, Why would you even consider me?
1 Samuel 9.21 states: “And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
That’s right; at one point prior to the incident concerning David’s challenge, Saul thought that he was not good enough.
Eventually Saul did become King and after a while he made a lot of mistakes. The devil would enjoy an abundance of Saul’s mistakes. And due to these mistakes, he became fearful, impatient, distressed, troubled, and rebellious towards God.
He became a liar and an accuser. After that little hansom shepherd boy, David slew that giant, the last thing he wanted to hear was that old song that the women sang, which to him minimized any accomplishment he ever made.
So what does he do?
He engages in an outright attack on David. That’s how a jealous spirit works? That jealous spirit usually attacks a completely innocent victim. King Saul started hating David and developed murderous thoughts about him. The Bible says that when you hate someone you are no different than a murderer.
1 John 3: 15 states: “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
While David played his music for Saul one day, Saul instead of being appreciative, at that moment decided to kill him. “The devil got a hold of his mind and made him think evil thoughts concerning David. As David innocently played his musical instrument Saul thought of ways to literally “pin him to the wall”.
1 Samuel 18:10-11 states: “And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.
There are people who will throw their spears at you, they’re not physical spears, God forbid, but they are designed to ‘pin you to the wall’ and if a metaphorical spear is in your enemy’s hand you can best believe that they’ll probably attempt to use it.
This is how Satan influences the mind of those who carry around hateful thoughts for their neighbors. David is doing nothing wrong, in fact he’s being helpful by playing the lyre, (which is simply a stringed instrument), for Saul, because the sweet music served as a sedative to Saul. David was there to serve Saul, to comfort him, to calm his stressful day.
Saul had a choice, to throw or not to throw the spear at David—and the voice of Satan became louder and louder in his ear and as a result he threw it, and although he wanted to make it appear as if it were an accident, in our courts today he would have been charged with attempted murder.
Gossip, rumors, backbiting, criticism, etc., are all emotional spears that some people love to throw at us. Fortunately David was quick on his feet, and got out of way before the spear that Saul threw could actually pin him to the wall.
But Saul tried to kill David many times after this;
• He tried to kill David three times by the spear.
• He tried to have him killed by the Philistines,
• Through Mical his daughter and David’s wife,
• Through Jonathan his son and David’s best friend,
• Through ordering his servants to kill him,
• Saul sends messengers to David’s house to kill him
• Saul sends three groups of men to Naioth to take David,
• Personally going to Ramah himself, planning to kill David at a feast,
• Commanding that David be brought back home to die,
• Making war on Keliah to kill David,
• Seeking him out in the wilderness of Ziph,
He just kept at it. The Devil had a hold of his mind in the form of jealousy and bound him to doing his evil deeds.
Brothers and sisters, not everyone you may think is a hater is a hater. We have to be careful not to over-think criticisms. Although this may sound harsh, we’re not the most important persons in the world, at least not to everyone. Most of the time, when we think someone is hating on us, they probably aren't. However, if they exhibit a pattern of ill will towards you like Saul does towards David, look out! They might be a hater for sure….. AMEN
The biggest problem I see in the church today is that it appears a lot of people are throwing spears these days. We’re so busy hurting and fighting each other, instead of standing together as one body in the way God would have us to stand in His church? Saul could have been a great king but instead his legacy was totally destroyed and David, his target, became King in his place.
Brothers and sisters, hate for one another belongs to the world and not the church. Hate for one another simply has no place in God’s house.
However, the word ‘hate’ is not necessarily a bad word.
---- If you love what's right,--- you're gonna hate what's wrong. And there are some things that even God hates, in fact…………
Proverbs 6: 16 -19 says, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”AMEN
True Christians (I said true Christians) are taught and live by God and his Son's words to "love" one another. Love is the most important emotion and gift of all--- to love thy neighbor and love your brothers and sisters of your congregation.
When we mistreat each other we have allowed an evil spirit to take over in order to sow discord within the church. We really don’t need any King Saul’s-- in God’s house. What we do need are more David’s. AMEN
Acts 13: 22 states: “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
Unlike King Saul, David was a divine choice, he had a divine heart and exhibited a divine behavior, and he was a man who would fulfill God’s will. And he did’nt let Hate spoil his Great!
It’s definitely NOT God’s will when we cause another to hurt by:
• Gossiping about each other,
• Spreading rumors about one another,
• Backbiting,
• Humiliating,
• Criticizing each other,
• Blocking success,
• Discouraging greatness,
• Spreading non-belief,
• Placing controls,
• and restraining our free will.
These sorts of things can only bring a smile to our real enemy, the devil. He loves it when we hate each other.
In closing
The church today needs more men and women who are all about loving each other and building each other up rather than hating and tearing each other down. As we come together in fellowship with each other and serving an extremely loving God, let’s love each other as God loves us.
• We don’t know what people have gone through to get what they have.
• Everyone wasn’t born with a silver spoon given to them.
• They see your glory, but they don’t know your story
Haters are either fueled by jealousy, low self-esteem, or an inflated-ego. They themselves have been somehow hurt and hated on by someone else, and now feel they must continue the cycle of hate.
Brothers and Sisters, I want to remind you this morning to not let your haters get you down. Haters are gonna hate…. Period.
• If they start spewing their hatred and lies on your blog or social media pages, ban them or defriend them.
• If they’re on your email list, remove them or block them.
• If they have your number, most definitely block them,
• If they tweet hate for you, take the high road and pray for them.
• And then forget about it, and let God…..
Jesus said in John 15: 18 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”
• A hater wants to drag you into the street to do battle with them.
• They want to drag you down and steal your joy.
• They want to see you fail.
• They want to see you cry.
• They want to dampen your sun shinny day.
• They want to take your spirit.
• They want to watch as you sink to an all-time low.
The Old folks used to say, “Be who you is… Cause if you is who you ain’t, then you ain’t who you is…”
And I say once again, Don’t let HATE spoil your GREAT!
What do we do to be saved?
Hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17)
Believing it (Hebrews 11:6),
Repenting of sin (Acts 17:30),
Confessing Jesus as Christ (Matthew 10:32)
Be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16)
References:
The Holy Bible KJV
Sermon Central
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