Have you ever been hated for no legitimate reason? Perhaps someone hated you because of looks, preaching style or the favor of God on your life. Christians can be encouraged as they reflect on how much Jesus was hated as we heed His warning in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” To make matters worse, there are levels of hatred. We can see this in Joseph’s story.
First Level
Genesis 37:4 says, “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.”
In the verse above, since the spirit of hatred was operating in Joseph’s brothers, they couldn’t speak peaceably to him. They hated Joseph because their father loved him more.
Second Level
Genesis 37:5 says, “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.”
In this verse, the hatred was building up. They hated Joseph because God had given him a mighty dream about his destiny.
Third Level
Genesis 37:8 says, “His brothers said to him, ‘Will you really reign over us, or will you really have dominion over us?’ So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.”
In this last verse, we can see another level of hatred: They hated him even more. They started to speak doubt into his purpose and tried to destroy any ounce of greatness he had inside.
A person has a choice to guard their heart against jealousy, anger and other sins that will lead to hatred. They must decide to follow after Jesus with their whole heart and obey His commands.
For more on how you can overcome the spirit of hatred, listen to Warfare Strategies on the Charisma Podcast Network. {eoa}
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