Why does the Bible say a TRUE follower of Jesus MUST HATE his family and only love Jesus ?

';If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple.'; -- (Luke 14:26)





Most Christians feel obligated to soften the face meaning of the word 'hate' to something like 'love less than me,' even though the Greek word miseo means 'hate.'





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Philip Badowski breaks chainsaw while cutting up the bodies of his Christian Missionary Parents








CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Dec 11, 2004 — A college student who admitted he fatally shot his parents in their bedroom and broke a chain saw cutting up their bodies told investigators: ';GOD told me to.';





He said the killings were ';spur of the moment'; after his parents scolded him when they returned from a weeklong missionary trip to Haiti.





http://www.bluelineradio.com/godsaid.htm…








.Why does the Bible say a TRUE follower of Jesus MUST HATE his family and only love Jesus ?
Context is everything.





The English word ';hate'; in this context means ';love less';.





In other words, ';If anyone comes after me and does not love his mother and father... less than he loves Me...he cannot be My disciple';, which is consistent with ';You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all you mind, with all your soul and with all your strength';.





Hope that helps.





Also, honoring one's parents is the ';first commandment with promise'; all through Scripture.





Coupled with the commandment ';Thou shalt not kill';, we can clearly surmise where the boy in your story falls. Apparently, his parents were Christian (judging from their missionary endeavors).





Are you suggesting that he is a Christian BECAUSE he killed his parents and by doing so, he was expressing true Christian character? Come on!Why does the Bible say a TRUE follower of Jesus MUST HATE his family and only love Jesus ?
Actually, if you read that entire passage, you'll see that's not what Jesus said. that was a quote in a parable, but it was said by a man in the parable, not Jesus. do your research right.
Jesus is trying to convince you that you are spirit, that the body nor the things of this world are life. We are all spirits, housed in bodies, the body dies, but the spirit does not.





When told that His mother and brother wished to speak with Him, He replied, ';who are my brothers, sisters, and mother, it is these (referring to the people that gather to listen to Him preach) that hear the word and do it.





Jesus was saying that his mother and brothers are dead, because they will not listen and do.
Christ was trying to emphasize that God is to be FIST in your life, heart, mind, and body. He didn't mean you should hate anyone. He was merely trying to drive his point home in terms people could understand.
Thats a lie from the pit of hell. you put God first family second what a nerd
It means nothing should be first place except God- you are still to love and honor your parents- it says that throughout scripture. God deserves to have first place in our lives/
Afraid you've read it wrong, it says, ';If anyone comes to me but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters-or even life-more than me, he cannot be my follower.'; notice it says ';more than me'; not ';if he doesn't hate';. And for the boy, God would never tell anyone to kill someone, as you've heard, ';thou shall not kill.';
The carnal concept of 'family' is a deception.





Unless we can see through this deception and separate ourselves from it or 'hate' it, we cannot enter into consciousness of the infinite Love of God.





To be a 'disciple' is to be able to express the Infinite Power of the Spirit with Wisdom and Love.





WE are ALL one family - Children of God, but 'satan' has hypnotised the whole race into thinking that 'family' refers to only those who are born into our household sharing the same parents.
Because you might be all alone in your belief but you must stick to it
Christianity started just like modern cults that want members to break family ties to trap them in the cult.
It's sad and deeply disturbing when people use verses like these to justify senseless killing. As a believer in the Lord Jesus, I believe that Jesus condemns all forms if dishonorable behavior towards parents. The Bible never says it's okay to bring dishonor to mom and dad. With that said, you mentioned that most Christians interpret the word ';hate'; to mean ';love less.'; I'm going to side with these Christians because I think that's the original intended meaning of Jesus. Jesus was calling His followers to a radical lifestyle of obedience to God. Imagine being in a culture/society where you are disowned by your family and distanced by your friends for professing a belief in Jesus. There are many stories of people, including kids, where their limbs are cut off and they are humiliated and disfigured by their parents for being Christians. Yet, they continue to follow Christ. By contrast, their love for their parents and their love for the Lord looks like hatred.
miseo, mis-eh'-o; from a primary misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension, to love less:--hate(-ful).





That's from the Strong's Concordance, one of the go-to sources for Biblical study.





';to love less';





It's not that we make it wishy-washy, it's that the word has increased in power since the 1600s when this version of the Bible was written.





Anyone reading the KJV should have that in mind when reading *any* verse from it.





Think of the word 'gay' and how it has changed in little more than half a century.





The Bible also says ';love thy neighbour as thyself';, and ';honour thy father and thy mother';





Matthew 15:4


For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.


Matthew 19:19


Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.


Mark 7:10


For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:


Mark 10:19


Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.


Luke 18:20


Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.


Ephesians 6:2


Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;;)





The Bible is to be understood as a whole, not there to be taken out of context.





Otherwise atheists would have a field day:





Deuteronomy 32:39 ... there is no god ...


1 Kings 8:23 ... there is no God ...


2 Kings 1:16 ... because there is no God ...


2 Kings 5:15 ... now I know that there is no God ...


2 Chronicles 6:14 ... there is no God ...


Psalm 14:1 ...There is no God. ...


Psalm 53:1 ...There is no God. ...


Isaiah 44:6 ... there is no God.


Isaiah 44:8 ... yea, there is no God; I know not any.


Isaiah 45:5 ...there is no God ...


Isaiah 45:14 ...there is no God.


Isaiah 45:21 ... and there is no God ...





That would be a terrible phrase to take out of context. As was the one this poor kid took.





It's obviously the work of the deceitful serpent, twisting the Word like he did way back when.
It means to love God and put him first. You still honor your mother and father. God Bless!
Here we have ';Jesus'; the typical Eastern ';holy man,'; who insists that his disciples sever all family ties, and give up worldly life, so that they can devote themselves exclusively to their spiritual progress.





You can go to India today and find dozens of ';Yogis'; who will tell you the same thing, for the same reasons. There's nothing unique or original to the fictional character of ';Jesus'; in this injunction.





Again: ';For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.'; (Matt 10:35).





Naturally ';Christians'; have Sunday School equivocations for the obvious sense of these passages; but the idea really IS that you hate and reject your family and your ';normal'; life. It is NOT ';put God first, family second.'; It's that there is no room for family in a life devoted to ';God.';





And, sure, you can find other passages that contradict this, as when Jesus, on the cross, ';gives'; his mother to the Beloved Disciple. All that proves is that the character of Jesus is composite, made up of often contradictory elements. Jesus the Eastern holy man conflicts with Jesus the traditional Jewish prophet, conflicts with Jesus the pagan ';Dying and Reviving God,'; etc.





As for the guy who shot his parents, he's just nuts. Religion gives crazy people a language with which to justify their insanity.
you got that all messed up
The Greek word that was translated from what he said meant that you should never put anything above him. Hate does not literally mean hate but to like less.
Because its ***** *********** ******** *** isn't it?
The Christians have heaps of stock answers to questions like this...


(1) God works in mysterious ways.


(2) You're quoting out of context.


(3) The original Greek says something quite different.


(4) Only a fool would believe it means hate your family.


(5) The question you should asking is...


(6) Show me where it says that in the bible.


...and so on.
In the Scriptures the word “hate” has several shades of meaning. It may denote intense hostility, sustained ill will often accompanied by malice. Such hate may become a consuming emotion seeking to bring harm to its object. “Hate” may also signify a strong dislike but without any intent to bring harm to the object, seeking instead to avoid it because of a feeling of loathing toward it. The Bible also employs the word “hate” to mean loving to a lesser degree. (Ge 29:31, 33; De 21:15, 16) For example, Jesus Christ said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own soul, he cannot be my disciple.” (Lu 14:26) Obviously Jesus did not mean that his followers were to feel hostility or loathing toward their families and toward themselves, as this would not be in agreement with the rest of the Scriptures.God’s law to Israel stated: “You must not hate your brother in your heart.” (Le 19:17)


Jesus’ counsel to love one’s enemies is in full harmony with the spirit of the Hebrew Scriptures. (Mt 5:44) Faithful Job recognized that any feeling of malicious joy over the calamity of one intensely hating him would have been wrong. (Job 31:29) The Mosaic Law enjoined upon the Israelites the responsibility to come to the aid of other Israelites whom they might view as their enemies. (Ex 23:4, 5) Instead of rejoicing over the disaster of an enemy, God’s servants are instructed: “If the one hating you is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
Yes a true follower of Jesus. Praise the Lord.
Because god/jesus is a bully
';must have been a typo...';


';its supposed to say something else..but somehow it doesn't, cause I don't want it to. But it MEANS.....(place softer meaning here)';