Hate Sin the Way You Hate Losing

As Christians, we often hear sermons about love — loving God, loving our neighbors, and extending grace to others. Love is essential, but there’s another crucial aspect of faith that often goes unspoken: hating sin. This is a powerful message that Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell shared in one of his sermons, and it truly resonated with me. He emphasized how important it is to hate sin the way we hate losing.

The Church’s Silence on Hating Sin

Many churches focus on love, which is great, but they sometimes neglect to address how necessary it is to despise sin. Sin is what separates us from God, yet many of us tolerate it, making excuses or brushing it off. We become comfortable with sin the same way people stay in toxic relationships — because it’s familiar. Even though we know it’s harmful, we hesitate to leave because we’ve grown accustomed to it.

We sometimes view sin as an unbeatable opponent. It’s like being down 40 points in a basketball game with two minutes left on the clock — we feel defeated and decide to stop trying. But that’s exactly what the devil wants. The enemy wants us to believe that sin is inevitable and that we’re powerless against it. But that’s not true. Just as athletes push themselves to improve after a loss, we must develop the same mindset toward sin. Instead of surrendering, we need to fight against it with prayer and determination.

Hating Sin Changes How We Live

Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell Mitchell made another profound statement: When you truly hate sin, it transforms the way you treat others, especially your spouse or significant other. When we hate sin, we resist temptations like lust and pornography. The problem arises when we become too comfortable with sin — watching movies with inappropriate content, listening to degrading music, or surrounding ourselves with ungodly influences. These things shape our thoughts and behaviors.

I personally struggled with pornography and used to justify it, thinking, “I’m not hurting anyone.” But that’s a deception from the enemy. Watching Pastor Mitchell’s sermon gave me even more motivation to fight against those temptations. When you develop a strong hatred for sin, resisting it becomes easier because you no longer see it as harmless — you see it as something that damages your relationship with God.

Justifying Sin is Dangerous

For a long time, I justified my own sinful actions. When I was single, I went on multiple dates per week, convincing myself that it was helping my confidence. In reality, I was using women for attention, avoiding rejection, and seeking validation. Instead of addressing the sin in my heart, I found ways to excuse it.

If I had recognized my behavior for what it was — seeking external validation instead of finding my worth in Christ — I could have addressed it much earlier. That’s why self-reflection and prayer are so important. We need to ask ourselves: “Why am I engaging in this behavior? What sin is at the root of it?” Until we confront our sins head-on, we will continue to struggle with them.

Cancel Sin Like We Cancel Celebrities

Another eye-opening point from Pastor Mitchell was how people are quick to cancel celebrities for saying or doing something wrong, yet they don’t apply the same energy toward canceling sin. If a celebrity makes an offensive comment, social media erupts with outrage. But why don’t we react the same way toward our own sin? If we treated sin with the same level of intolerance, we’d be much stronger in our faith.

Instead of tolerating sin, we should say, “This thought is sinful — canceled. This temptation — canceled.” We must take sin seriously and pray against it just as fervently as we criticize others.

Overcoming the Love of Money

One final point that struck me was how easily we can become consumed by money. It’s not wrong to want financial stability, but when making money becomes our top priority over serving others, we’re on dangerous ground. The Bible reminds us that we cannot serve both God and money. Whenever I start focusing too much on finances, I make it a point to pray and realign my priorities, remembering that my purpose is to help others and glorify God, not just chase material success.

The Path Forward

This sermon challenged me to hate sin with the same passion that I hate losing. It’s easy to get frustrated when our favorite sports team loses or when we fail at something we care about. But do we feel that same frustration when we fall into sin? If we redirected that energy toward prayer and repentance, we would see real transformation in our lives.

I highly recommend watching Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell’s sermon. It’s a powerful message that will encourage you to take sin seriously and seek holiness. If we cultivate a genuine hatred for sin and commit ourselves to fighting against it, we will grow closer to God and become the people He has called us to be.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Have you ever struggled with justifying sin? Let me know in the comments!