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The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson

Episode #167 – Kyle Thompson // A Time to Love, and a Time to Hate
Date: August 21, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson focus on the biblical wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, zeroing in on the phrase “a time to love, and a time to hate.” They explore the Christian imperative to rightly understand and apply genuine love and righteous hate in a culture that often blurs or cheapens these concepts. The discussion is packed with scriptural references, practical examples, and a challenge to listeners to align their hearts with what both God loves and hates.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Seasons of Life (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

[00:20] Kyle Thompson reads the classic passage from Ecclesiastes, highlighting its poetic list of contrasts found in human experience.
He notes the deliberate pairings (weep/laugh, mourn/dance, etc.), spotlighting the "love/hate" dichotomy as the most striking.
“So as is true with the entire passage that we're looking at in Ecclesiastes, there is a juxtaposition with each line. So the words are different sides of the same coin...” (Kyle Thompson, 00:25)

2. Cultural Abuse of 'Love' and 'Hate'

Kyle laments the loss of depth in how society uses the terms love and hate. He observes that they’re thrown around freely (“I love this pizza,” “I hate that band”), and that secular culture preaches “love” without true biblical understanding.
“In a lot of ways, we've lost the appropriate categories for love and hate because culture has co-opted those words from God and because we use them cheaply, right?” (Kyle Thompson, 01:30)

3. Biblical Standards for Love and Hate

Christians are called to think and act rightly regarding love and hate, rooting both in God’s character and commands.
Referencing Romans 12:9: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
“Because in order to be a true follower of God, we must love what God loves and hate what God hates.” (Kyle Thompson, 01:55)

4. What Genuine Love Looks Like

Drawing from 1 John 4, Kyle points out that love is from God, and real love was shown in God sending His Son.
He emphasizes Jesus’s words in Matthew 22:36-40 about the greatest commandment: loving God with all one’s heart, soul, and mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself.
“And specifically we are supposed to love. And how are we supposed to love and to what level?” (Kyle Thompson, 03:15)

5. A Righteous Place for Hate

Kyle unpacks “abhor what is evil” (Romans 12:9) and Psalm 97:10: “Oh, you who love the Lord, hate evil.”
He clarifies this isn’t about personal malice, but a righteous hatred generated by being aligned with God’s heart.
“This is not personal malice… This is righteous hate that is generated inside of us because we have aligned our love and our hate to what God loves and hates.” (Kyle Thompson, 04:25)

6. Practical Application: Love and Hate in Daily Life

True love means loving neighbors while also hating the evil they may do, especially if it brings harm.
He gives concrete examples: loving chastity and fidelity, hating promiscuity and blasphemy, loving faith in Christ.
“There is a time to love and a time to hate. We must be ready for both.” (Kyle Thompson, 05:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“We've lost the appropriate categories for love and hate because culture has co-opted those words from God and because we use them cheaply.” – Kyle Thompson [01:30]
“In order to be a true follower of God, we must love what God loves and hate what God hates.” – Kyle Thompson [01:55]
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” – (Romans 12:9, quoted by Kyle Thompson) [02:08]
“This is not personal malice… This is righteous hate that is generated inside of us because we have aligned our love and our hate to what God loves and hates.” – Kyle Thompson [04:25]
“There is a time to love and a time to hate. We must be ready for both.” – Kyle Thompson [05:20]

Important Timestamps

00:20 – Reading of Ecclesiastes 3 and focus on “a time to love, and a time to hate”
01:30 – Commentary on how society misunderstands love and hate
02:08 – Romans 12:9 and the biblical call to abhor evil
03:00–04:00 – Scriptural backing for genuine love (1 John 4; Matthew 22)
04:10 – Exploring what it means to “hate evil” as a Christian
05:20 – Concluding challenge: Be prepared to love and to hate in ways God commands

Tone & Takeaways

With clear, biblically anchored teaching and direct language, the hosts urge Christian men to recover the depth and force of what “love” and “hate” really mean in God’s economy—challenging listeners to align both emotions with God’s standards, not the world’s. The episode is a call to spiritual sobriety and courage in everyday life.

If you’re looking for a practical, scriptural roadmap for living out love and hate as God defines them, this episode delivers with clarity and conviction.

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Transcript3 lines

[00:01]
A
Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
[00:21]
B
Good to have you back, guys. This week on the Daily Blade, we are focusing on Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1 through 8. I'll read it again here. For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to seek and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to tear and a time to sow. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. So specifically today, we're keying in on the first part of verse 8. A time to love and a time to hate. So as is true with the entire passage that we're looking at in Ecclesiastes, there is a juxtaposition with each line. So the words are different sides of the same coin, I guess. So you have weep versus laugh, you have mourn versus dance. I mean, yes, Baptist dancing is allowed. You have keep versus cast away. But in my opinion, the juxtaposition in the first part of verse eight is the most striking. Love versus hate. So in our modern moment, everything seemingly is about love. So we're constantly told by people that don't believe in God and don't read the Bible that we are to love our neighbor. We are simultaneously told that love is love, even if the love being expressed is contrary to God and to nature. And if we don't boldly proclaim that is truth, then we are called a hater. Right? And beyond that, the terms love and hate are just kind of thrown around willy nilly, right? I mean, we'll say things like, dude, I love this pizza, or man, I hate that band, or something like that. So in a lot of ways, we've lost the appropriate categories for love and hate because culture has co opted those words from God and because we use them cheaply, right? But for us as Christians, we have to make sure that we have right thinking and right actions as it pertains to love and hate. Because in order to be a true follower of God, we must love what God loves and hate what God hates. I mean, Paul essentially says that in his letter to the Church in Rome. So in Romans 12:9, the ESV titles, the beginning of the section marks of a true Christian. And the first line is Romans 12:9. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. So how can love be genuine? Right? The apostle John tells us in First John 4, beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not love God, because God is love. In this the love of God has made manifest among us. And God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love not that we have loved, but that God, he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And specifically we are supposed to love. And how are we supposed to love and to what level? So Jesus tells us when he's answering the question of the Pharisees lawyer that we see in Matthew 22:36 40 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law. And he said to him, this is Jesus, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. So yes, there is certainly a time to love. But what about hate? Again, going Back to Romans 12:9, abhor what is evil. Now, abhor isn't a common word anymore, but it just means to regard with horror, or to loathe or to detest, or to hate. To which you might wonder. Are you sure? I mean, that sounds really mean, doesn't it? Aren't we as Christians supposed to just love everybody and everything? I mean, if you go back to the Daily Blade week starting on June 23rd of this year, I spend an entire week on this subject. But the center point of that week was Psalm 97, specifically verse 10. Oh, you who love the Lord, hate evil. Now, to be clear, this is not personal malice, okay? This isn't untethered anger at something or someone. This is righteous hate that is generated inside of of us because we have aligned our love and our hate to what God loves and hates. So if you are aligned with God, you will love your neighbor as yourself and also hate if your neighbor hurts an innocent child. You will love it when you see a young gal remain chaste when a culture tells her to be a and you will hate it when another gal decides to find acceptance in the arms of a new man every night. You will love it when someone puts their faith in Christ, and you will also hate it when someone is blasphemous towards him. There is a time to love and a time to hate. We must be ready for both.
[05:42]
A
Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.