To the question of what is the opposite of love, a likely response would often be hate. However, hate is a symptom, not the root itself. At the root of hate is selfishness. Hate requires an incendiary, and that incendiary is selfishness, which encompasses pride, lust, covetousness, and envy. At the crux of all evil is selfishness, which makes it the opposite of love.

Neither love nor hatred are necessarily exclusive to each other. God is love; yet, God also hates. God hates because he loves. Love hates evil yet desires that those given to it turn from it.

The fear of the Lord, King Solomon wrote, is to hate evil. It is also written, “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Those who love God hate evil (Psalm 97:10). Godly hatred exists because of evil. There was no hatred before sin. Lucifer hated God first, and his hatred for God derived from his selfishness. Selfishness gave birth to pride and lust, which brought forth envy, hatred, and every other evil.

In chapter 14 of Isaiah, when Lucifer speaks his heart, he begins every sentence with the self-centered word “I”:

“I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Lucifer attempted to overthrow God with accusations against Him of being selfish. Demanding equality, he sowed discord in heaven and assembled the disaffected angels into his rebellion. This is where the war between good and evil began, and as we see, it continues to this day.

Lucifer preached Marxism before he used Karl Marx as its avatar. Marxism could more appropriately be called “Luciferianism.” Lucifer’s message is the same message of discontentment that is popular today and down through history: a call to rebellion against inequality, hierarchy, and the patriarchy of God, thus earning himself the name Satan (Adversary). In doing so, he became the inaugural “social justice warrior.”

Heaven was polluted by Lucifer’s rebellion, and God, being perfect in holiness, will not reside with evil. Satan was thrust out with his angels; they were set apart in a place prepared for them until the Great Day of Judgment.

God, rather than destroying Lucifer and his followers utterly and eternally at that moment, placed them on hold until an appointed time of judgment.

Why? The Lord is a God of judicial process. Once sin was conceived, due process was required before eternal judgment and destruction to fulfill all righteousness.

God allows the tares to grow with the wheat until maturity so that the manifestation of both good and evil in their fullness has come before the appointed time of reaping. Then all things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will be judged. All evil is to be forever eradicated. Seeing how all things are revealed beforehand, there will be no one without excuse.

In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light,” and God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. When God created all things, he looked at them and said that they were good.

God only saw the light as being good. Satan and those with him in darkness were exposed by that light; they were indicted, arrested, and confined to prison, where they are now being held in “chains of darkness” awaiting trial.

God is currently anticipating the fullness of the earth’s precious fruit. Long-suffering and not willing that any should perish, He is delaying judgment for the sake of salvation until the appointed time of recompense. At that moment, God’s perfect love and hatred will be eternally on display, leading to the eternal resolution of all things.

Selfishness is the opposite of love. Selfishness dwells in our flesh. This is the reason Christ came in the flesh and selflessly gave Himself, that he might crucify selfishness in the flesh on the cross.

Christ is the only perfectly selfless one. He sought not his own will but did only the will of his Father. Thus, the opposite of selfishness is Christ, and the opposite of Christ is Satan. Therein lies the choice that ultimately everyone must choose between.