We all go through tribulations in life – sicknesses, poverty, abuse, and all manner of troubles. However, when going through such, it is easy to feel singled out. Especially if your friends and acquaintances seem to be having an easier time. And it is easy to start questioning God’s love and wonder why God hates you. But does He? 

God does not hate you. Amid all your suffering and pain, you should always remember God’s great love for you. In addition, God considers you the apple of his eye. If someone says this about you, you should know that you are extremely important to them. Even when you are in sin you should know that God still loves you.

Let us consider some important Bible truths that will help you appreciate that God does not hate you. 

God Gave His Only Son for You

The first illustration that God does not hate you is the fact that he gave his son to die for you. God loved his creation, especially man, so much that He gave his son to die on their behalf. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Christ’s death would bring about the redemption of man’s suffering. God hates sin, and that is why he saw the need to give his son’s life for our cleansing from sin.

If you keep having repeated events that hurt you it is easy to think that God hates you. For example, if you keep losing loved ones or jobs, you may wonder why this keeps happening to you. But you may want to consider that God already demonstrated his life through the death of his son and there is no greater love than that. 

You Are Not Alone

It may be easy to think that you are alone in your suffering. For example, if you are going through a difficult financial crisis, you may think that everyone else is not suffering from it. However, the reality is there are lots of people who are going through similar struggles. In the words of scripture;

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Cor. 10:13

Do not fall for the social media lies. For the most part, the life your friends may be flaunting on social media could be fake. The bottom line is everyone struggles. If you get close to anyone, you will soon realize that their private life may not be as perfect as they portray in public. So, do not allow the devil to plant the thought that you are being singled out for suffering. Suffering is part and parcel of our Christian existence. In fact, the Psalmist warned that the righteous man will have many tribulations (Pslams 34:19). 

Lack of the Knowledge 

Your conclusion that God hates you may be because of your limited knowledge about God. For instance, you may have heard that God hates sinners but that is actually a fallacy. The truth is God hates sin but he loves sinners. So even if you feel like you are a sinner, that is not a reason for you to think that He hates you. 

One perfect example is in the story of Job. After losing everything and being stricken with disease, Job’s friends automatically assumed that it was a punishment for his sin. Even though Eliphaz started by realizing that Job had been a pillar of strength for other people (Job 4:3-4), he believed it was his sins that brought calamity to him. Here is what he said,

“Who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:7-8).

Bildad and Zophar also agreed with Bildad’s analysis. In Job 8:20, Bildad said that there was no way god would reject a blameless person. He was insinuating that God had rejected Job because of his sin. In Job 11:14-17, Zophar argued that Job’s iniquities were hindering his prayers and that is why God was not helping him in his problems. 

But one thing is clear from the book of Job – he was a blameless man who eschewed all evil (Job 1:1). The reason the friends of Job were blaming his suffering on his sins is that they didn’t know that God had allowed Satan to test Job’s faith in God. 

Naturally, we associate being loved by God with our physical situations. We believe that if God loves us, then we should live a life free from pain. If we are going through pain, then it is easy to think that God hates us. But as the life of Job demonstrates, sometimes, God allows pain to come into the life of those he loves. 

What Does God Hate?

God doesn’t hate you. As the song says, God loves people more than anything! However, there are things that God does hate. The book of Proverbs (6:16-19) makes a succinct list of the things that God hates. These are;

• Haughty eyes
• A lying tongue
• Hands that shed innocent blood
• A heart that devises wicked schemes
• Feet that rush to evil
• A false witness 
• A person who stirs up conflict 

One thing that is clear from the above list is that God doesn’t hate people – he hates the sin the people do. So even when you mess up, God may hate the mess but he will not hate you. Just like a parent would hate what their kids do but would never hate their kids. 

Conclusion

Your suffering may cause you to think that, indeed, God despises you. Sometimes, you pray for your situations to change, but they remain the same, making you think that God hates you. However, as we have established, God doesn’t hate you. He has demonstrated his love by sending his son to die for you and you can always count on his love – even when it doesn’t seem like it.