things His way today, we should expect the same.

 

Isaiah said there were those who in his day called evil good and good evil.  They substituted darkness for light and light for darkness, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.  These are not just substitutes, they are lies.  Everyone should disagree with a lie.

 

Does disagreement equal hatred?  No way.  We disagree with people we love on a regular basis.

 

There are times when caring about someone obligates us to disagree with them openly and attempt to change their thinking.  What if, for example, someone you loved was contemplating suicide?  Wouldn’t you want to know about it for the express purpose of talking them into changing their minds, even to the point of physically preventing them from harming themselves?  Would you call that hate, or love?

 

No one loved people as much as Jesus.  He proved that on the cross and in the thirtythree years leading up to it.  Yet, on almost every page of each of the four gospels, we see Jesus taking issue with people; disagreeing with them, if you will.  He wasn’t being argumentative.  He wasn’t on a power trip.  He wasn’t even being “holier-than-thou”, though He certainly was.

 

What Jesus did all of His life was to point people to what was right instead of simply telling them to “do their own thing”.  His purpose was not to be popular or even to be 

accepted by society.  Jesus’ purpose in coming was to deal with our sin.  Why do you think He was eventually crucified?  The people He loved, loved their sin, and did not 

want to change.

 

So, if you love someone enough to disagree with them and are called names, falsely accused, demeaned, castigated or disparaged, hang in there.  If that’s their best defense, then you are probably on the right track.