day no. 15,282: His banner over me is love

Song of Solomon 2:4
His banner over me is love.

The Lord's battle banner is over those He loves. In order to love something, you must oppose whatever it is that would come against the object of your affection. If you feel no impulse whatsoever to defend her, there is good reason to question your love for her.

Song of Solomon 6:4
You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.

As Chesterton once said, "'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." The battle begins with love, but it must include hate. 

Song of Solomon 6:10
Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?

The error many make is either letting hate lead or refusing to order it to follow.

Hate must not lead. It must not be the fuel. It cannot suffice as the reason for the battle. But it must follow. If there is love, there must be hate. If hate does not follow, it is not love in the first place.

Psalm 97:10
O you who love the LORD, hate evil! 

Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. 

Amos 5:14-15
Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

In other words, love and hate are only as good or bad as their direct objects. If you love evil, your love is bad. If you hate good, your hate is bad. If you love goodness, your love is properly placed. If you hate evil, your hate deserves an, "Amen."

Do not let hate lead. It will not lead you to goodness. Do not refuse to order it to follow. If you do not set yourself against what is against what you love, you are not for what you say you are for.

To be for is to be against, by necessity and in that order.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.