It’s hard to feel loved when you think God hates you, but it’s possible to overcome these feelings. This article focuses on what to do when you feel God hates you.
Feeling as though God hates you can be an incredibly painful experience, but there are some actions you can take to get yourself back on track and begin the process of healing your relationship with God again.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that God hates you because it fits into your negative view of the world and makes it seem like everyone’s against you.
However, this concept of God hating you is not supported by the scriptures, nor does it have any merit in reality. If you believe God hates you, here are ten things you should do to beat that mindset.
1. Change Your Perspective About God
A lot of people often feel God’s love is conditional. It’s easy for them to believe that God loves them because they are doing the right things, so they think God begins to hate them when they offend Him.
If you think God hates you and have wondered what to do if God hates you? The first step on what to do when you feel God hates you is to change your perspective about God.
To do this, you must first ask, can a God who is love have the ability to hate because of our shortcomings? The Bible says God is love. 1 John 4:8 tells us, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
So can a God whose nature is love find it possible to hate? The Bible in Hosea 9:15 says, “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.”
The NIV version translates this even better. It reads; The LORD says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels.
God’s nature is love; He always does what is best for us. So the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 ‘declares the LORD “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
God is a God of love, but He hates what is contrary to His commandment, which is sin. So if you are reading this and you feel God has abandoned you and wonder what to do when you feel God has abandoned you? Have faith in the love of God for you.
When the Bible speaks of God’s hatred, the object of His hatred is sin and wickedness, not people. And the things God hates are listed in the Bible. Some of them include idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:31; 16:22), child sacrifice, sexual perversion (Leviticus 20:1–23), and those who do evil (Psalm 5:4–6; 11:5).
Proverbs 6:16–19 lists seven things the Lord hates: pride, lying, murder, evil plots, those who love evil, false witnesses, and troublemakers.
The Bible teaches that God loves the people of the world (John 3:16). God spared wicked Nineveh, bringing them to repentance (Jonah 3). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32).
He is patient to an extreme, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). This is all proof of love—God wants what is best for His creation.
At the same time, Psalm 5:5 says about God, “You hate all evildoers” (ESV). Psalm 11:5 is even harsher: “The wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.”
Before a person repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the enemy of God (Colossians 1:21). Yet, even before he is saved, he is loved by God (Romans 5:8)—because God sacrificed His only begotten Son on his behalf.
In that case, we are compelled to wonder: what will happen to those who scorn God’s love, refuse to repent, and stubbornly cling to their sin? The answer is God will judge them since He is righteous and always judge sin.
God hates sin but does not hate the sinner. He wants all to come to Him. In 1 Timothy 2:4 (God) wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Remember that if you are unsure of what to do when you feel God hates you, the first step is to change how you see God. God loves you irrespective of the mistakes of the past. Embrace His love today!
2. Change Your Perspective About Forgiveness
Many people find it difficult to forgive themselves, so they believe they do not deserve God’s forgiveness. They feel God can’t forgive them because of what they may have done in the past. They think God will never forgive them because God hates them.
Are you such a person that wonders what to do if God hates you? First, you need to understand forgiveness. So another tip on what to do when you feel God hates you is to change your perspective on forgiveness.
God is always ready to forgive and save us, no matter how far we’ve drifted away from Him. As humans, we may turn our backs on someone who’s offended us and refuse to have anything more to do with them—but God never does.
No matter how far we’ve fallen, God still loves us and wants us to be with Him in heaven forever. Unfortunately, one of Satan’s most effective tricks on Christians is to convince us that our sins cannot be forgiven, despite the promise of God’s Word.
He hates it when people are delivered from his grasp and tries to plant seeds of doubt in our minds about the reality of our salvation. One of Satan’s most effective tools is constantly reminding us of our past mistakes, and he uses those to prove that God couldn’t possibly forgive or restore us.
As a result, the devil’s attacks make it a real challenge for us to rest in the promises of God and trust His love. Remember that on what to do when you feel God hates you, you need to change your perspective about forgiveness.
3. Forgive Yourself
What to do when you feel God hates you? Learn to forgive yourself! You are not perfect and will make many mistakes you are not proud of. But you should know that if God can forgive you of these mistakes, you shouldn’t keep yourself in bondage.
It would help if you learned to forgive yourself. But first, think about what the word forgiveness means. The word means to give up resentment or a grudge. So let go of the regret, too and accept the mercies provided by God.
Acceptance is an essential part of forgiveness. Understand why you felt this way, accept that these emotions exist within you, and forgive yourself for feeling the way you do. When self-acceptance comes before everything else, anything can happen in your life.
We cannot always choose what we think or feel in any given moment, but we can work on how we react with kindness towards ourselves and others. Learn to respond with mindfulness at all times.
Forgiveness does not erase the past, but it can ease the pain in the present and the future by freeing us from resentful thoughts and negative feelings that keep us stuck in regret.
It is easier to accept God’s mercies and forgiveness over our lives when we learn how to forgive ourselves. So what to do when you feel God hates you is to release yourself from self-guilt and condemnation.
Only then can you truly see yourself as God sees you, as one who has been forgiven, justified, accepted, and loved.
4. Embrace His Benevolent Grace
Do you ever ask yourself what to do when you feel like God is not with you? Do you often feel left alone because you think God doesn’t love you anymore? God’s love is constant, unconditional, and everlasting.
Regardless of what you do or how you live your life, He will still be there for you with His love. As a result of His love, we were freely given grace.
The Bible says in Exodus 34:6 (ESV); God’s grace flows from the essence of His being: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Acts 15:11 says, “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. (ESV) Also, Romans 3:24 says, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (NLT)
If you are wondering what to do when you feel God hates you? Embrace the grace God has provided. The Bible reveals how God sees us “freely makes us right in his sight.”
5. Draw Near To God
It’s easy to think God has forsaken us and does not lead us as promised in the scriptures when challenges face us. So what to do when you feel God hates you? Draw near to God.
Often, when we feel like God hates us or has abandoned us, it’s because we’ve pushed Him away. You must draw near Him to get back on the right track. It is essential that He doesn’t see you as someone who does not believe in Him or is against Him.
Spend time with Him, and let Him lead you again. Talk to Him in prayer, and devote time to read His Word. Focus on how much He loves you and remind yourself how good and merciful He is.
Pray to Him until you feel His presence again. And while it may take some time before you do, trust that it will happen because nothing can separate you from His love.
God still loves you no matter what has happened or is happening in your life. So let go of all thoughts that He doesn’t love you anymore and replace them with thoughts of how much love He has for you.
6. Let Go Of The Negativity
Another tip on what to do when you feel God hates you is to separate yourself from what is happening. My dad always told me that people who hate or blame others often try to mask how they feel about themselves.
And as I grew up, I have come to realize this is true. Those who are hurt try to take it out on others as they vent their frustration. When you feel like the world is against you, try not to isolate yourself; instead, reach out to those around you.
Learn who is there for you; when it feels overwhelming, take a break from what’s clouding your mind and be more mindful of the good things around you. We all have moments in our lives where we feel God has turned away from us and hates us.
Those are the times when everything seems dark and bleak, and you can’t see the slightest glimpse of hope. That’s when the negativity sneaks into your thoughts and heart and fills you with fear that things will never change for the better.
In such moments it is normal to believe God that may hate us; after all, it seems He is permitting us to go through so much pain. This is why one of the things on what to do when you feel God hates you is to let go of the negativity.
7. Practice Loving Yourself
Do you love and accept yourself? Many people are angry with God because of their inability to love themselves truly. One thing on what to do when you feel God hates you is to love yourself.
Self-love means having trust, confidence, and pride in yourself and your abilities. This also means not being bothered by how others see you and letting love flow in and out of you. The Bible has a lot to say about our relationship with ourselves.
We are called to practice loving ourselves and accepting who we are on the inside, no matter what. This means you should try your best to love yourself even if you don’t think you’re good enough or believe God hates you.
And it also means we must work on understanding ourselves to understand others better and help them when they need us most. We can find peace within ourselves by understanding how valuable each person is in the eyes of God.
If you’re struggling with knowing how to do that, you can start by practicing self-care. This means setting aside time each day to speak positive words, eat healthily, work out, or even take a walk outside and enjoy nature.
The goal is to ensure you’re physically and mentally happy because it’s easier to accept that God loves you when you aren’t frustrated with yourself.
And, of course, remember that practicing self-love doesn’t mean you don’t love others – in fact, learning to love yourself will help you better love your friends and family.
Remember that on What to do when you feel God hates you, you need to practice loving yourself.
8. Complain Less, And Offer Compliments More
Are you wondering what to do when you feel God hates you? First, be intentional about what you say. Focusing on the negatives and giving in to how good it feels to complain may be tempting.
However, complimenting others is a helpful way of encouraging someone struggling with their faith and sense of self-worth. Regardless of whether it’s yourself or another person you are trying to support, always focus on their strengths instead of their shortcomings.
So be intentional about how you talk, do not complain but compliment yourself even when things get tough. When you do, you will begin to see things from a different angle, and you will come to realize that God loves you even when things around you may suggest otherwise.
So what to do when you feel God hates you? Complain less and compliment yourself. You deserve it!
9. Change Negative Thoughts Into Positive Ones
It’s so easy to slip into the mindset that God hates you. No matter what happens in life, it can feel like we’re never doing enough, no matter how hard we try. One way to combat this is to change negative thoughts into positive ones.
If we change our mindset, we can often change our life. So when you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, stop and tell yourself that you need to think differently.
Let go of those toxic thoughts telling you that God hates you or you don’t deserve anything good in your life. One way to help you achieve this is to read some books on how to shift your mind to think positively to benefit your mind and soul.
10. Forgive Those Who Have Hurt You
Forgiving someone who has hurt you or broken your trust can be difficult. But, even if the person is not sorry for what they have done, it is still possible to forgive them.
When we refuse to forgive people, we give them power over us, and it keeps us from moving on with our lives. But when we choose to forgive others, that choice also becomes a gift for them.
Forgiveness does not mean accepting their behavior and agreeing with what they did.
Instead, forgiveness means letting go of anger, bitterness, and resentment towards them so that you can move on with your life without the weight of that burden bearing down on you all the time.
When we do this, we are free of the hurt that comes with holding on to offenses.
Does God Get Mad At You?
After reading this, you probably may ask, does God get mad at you? God only gets angry at the things we do to provoke His anger. Although He is not human, he does get angry.
And he has good reason for reacting to human behavior with anger. In fact, God wouldn’t be good if he didn’t have strong reactions to evil and injustice.
Prayer For When You Believe God Has Forgotten You
If you feel the Lord has forgotten you because you are going through so much, then take a minute to say this prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank you for your promise never to leave me and never to forsake me, Lord.
I pray for the wisdom to see that just because I do not feel Your presence does not imply that you are not with me at all times.
Help me live the life that honors you even in difficult times and seasons and point others toward you.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Conclusion
Some Christians think God is no longer interested in a relationship with them because of their actions. Yet, when we look at the Scriptures, we see this is untrue. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done; Jesus will always carry you and make all things new again.
So, talk to Him about it if you feel your past has permanently broken your relationship with God. Remember that he loves us even if we are wrong, and there will be consequences for our sins if we don’t reconcile with Him.
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