John 15:19
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

We would never say it’s good to be hated.  It certainly doesn’t feel good.  We don’t want to be hated.  But for Jesus’ sake, let’s be willing to be so that we can identify ourselves with Him completely.  We are, after all, His possession, bought by His blood and sealed with His Spirit.  We’ve got a new name, a new robe, a new purpose, a new hope.  And so we’ve also gained a new enemy.

We are not of this world, but He has chosen us out of it, plucked us out by the roots and severed that connection forever.  No longer do we draw our satisfaction or our worth or our hope from this world and what it has to offer, but we dwell in Christ and are nourished by Him in every possible way.  We find our value in Him.  We find our purpose in Him.  Indeed, our very life is in Him.  So let us not stoop back to living in that world that had once so overtaken us, but rise up into our new life in Christ.

And if we are willing to do that, the world will hate us with a ferocious, desperate hatred, because the world hates anything good and anything righteous.  It hates God and therefore hates anything godly.  And so then it opposes anything that is for good and for righteousness and for God.  We are taking the opposite side in a war, and our enemy will be merciless.  Our enemy will seek to inflict as much pain and as much damage as possible.  But we have not been recruited to the losing side.  Our Lord already reigns supreme even as the battle rages, so we don’t have to be afraid to go forth, armed with His Word, protected by His armor and in the power of His Spirit.

So, whose love will we seek after?  After we’ve known the love of Christ—that pure and holy love that comes from the source of love Himself—how could we ever crave the world’s love?  Let’s be willing to be despised for Christ’s sake, because He was despised and rejected for our sakes.  Let’s be willing to be hated for His sake, because why would we want the love of a world that hates our Savior?  So let us shed our association with the world and forsake it all for Jesus.