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When Hate Blinds

October 28th, 2024

Esther 5:9-14

Haman seemingly had it all. There was just one problem—Mordecai didn’t show Haman the respect that Haman believed he deserved. Because of this perceived slight, Haman hated Mordecai. Haman hated Mordecai so much that he began to plan how to kill him (v. 14).

Probably none of us have ever hated someone so much that we began to plot their murder or execution, but John writes in 1 John 3:15, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”

I once had a church leader who would often say that we must keep our side of the street clean. What he meant was that we cannot control how people think or feel about us; we can only control how we respond to them.

Haman was blinded by his hatred for Mordecai. If we aren’t careful, we can be blinded by hate as well. Christ, however, calls us to love others as neighbors.

Author: Joe Foltz