Be Kind To Your Haters

​I want to start off this blog asking you a question. Do you have a hater? Someone who does not wish well for you? I am pretty certain that half of the world has heard the quote “Hater are my motivators” or “Kill them with kindness”. Most of us hear this quote and instead of operating in kindness we operate in this vengeful feeling. You know the feeling? When someone steals your idea and gets all the credit and you think “ I’m gonna let them have this one but, next time I will make sure I get the praise” or If someone says something rude about you and your first reaction is anger but, you fake a smile and give this person a cold shoulder for a month. You can be one of the two people, “Woah that’s me” or “ I would never think that way”. Whether we like it or not we are all humans and the only perfect person was Christ.  I found out recently that I was that person operating out of quiet malice instead of kindness. In pursuit of growing in my faith and adopting true kindness in my life, I looked in my bible for someone who showed kindness to a hater or someone against them.

I found myself in 2 Samuel 9. I would encourage you to read this passage to understand the true context of this post. The passage begins with David looking to show kindness to someone in Saul’s household for the sake of Jonathan and God. For those who are not familar with David’s background, David was anointed to become King when there was already a king on throne. This king at first loved David because he would sing beautiful song to him but,  jealousy and hate consumed this king and he wanted to kill David. This king was named Saul, his son named Jonathan who was a good friend to David. When Johnathan heard that his Father was against David. Johnathan saved David from the wrath of King Saul. So now, this story takes place after Saul and Jonathan have died in battle and David is now king. David in remembrance of Jonathan's help returns the favor to Jonathan's son.

Many things have happened to Mephibosheth and I find that in a lot of case we are just like him.  Mephibosheth was disabled and was not able to use his legs. In this time, society looked down at people who were disabled and they were typically not allowed to go certain places and were viewed as less than average. Typically, people at this time would have looked at Mephibosheth and viewed him based on his circumstance and associate it with the way King Saul lived . The story goes as far that Mephibosheth was named after his circumstance. Mephibosheth means to be scattered, broken and, shamed. For years Mephibosheth lived in the shame that his grandfather jealousy and bitterness caused in his life.We as children of God do the same thing when it comes to our past.

In this story, I feel that the children of God are just like Mephibosheth. The world recognizes us based on our circumstances causing us to feel broken and shameful for who we are. We can identify ourselves as a “dead dog” but, we are much more. David serves as an ambassador of Christ blessing Mephibosheth not because of Saul but because of Jonathan. David kindness came at a price. He had to put aside his pride and remember the kindness that was once shown to him. Is that not the Gospel? Jesus giving up his life ( which costed him) for us because we were living under the curse which is the law.  Jesus considered us on the cross, David considered Mephibosheth, Who are we considering? As ambassadors of Christ we should consider others, even when it doesn’t seem like they deserve it. We don’t deserve the grace of God but, our God is so kind he gave His Son away freely.


2 Samuel 9:9-10 reads “Then the king summoned Saul’s attendant Ziba and said to him “ I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family. You, your sons, and servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in the crops so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table”...”

After reading this story I learned what true kindness looks like. I asked myself will I be kind to others, even when they hate me? Will I be an ambassador of Christ when I am under attack? Will kindness shine through me when I am surrounded by bitterness. True kindness will shine even when we are surrounded by darkness because of God. David said in 2 Samuel 9:3 “ Is there anyone left of Saul’s family that I can show the kindness of God to?”. To David his kindness was all about God and, that should be the desire of our heart. To want our kindness to be representative of the Gospel and Jesus Christ, to set ourselves and others free from the identify the world has given us and, for kindness to be a warm welcome to a seat at the King’s table. Be kind even to those who treat you terribly. Be kind to those who do not care about you because, you do not know who is in close proximity to that “hater”. That person may needs a little bit of the kindness you share.Let this be our constant prayer.





Written by: Emmanuelle Ekibolaji
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