Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
10 20 2025
Indifference, the Attack on our very Souls
The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. How together are we spiritually speaking?
Have we graduated? Yeah, I know I still am learning, but I’ve got most of it down!
You know, like graduating from college with a degree or even a master’s.
“Now I know in part; THEN I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ––1 Corinthians 13:12-13
Elie Wiesel; A holocaust survivor, said:
“The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.“
Could someone call you indifferent to faith, Israel, porn, or discipleship? What is indifference to you?
It’s defined as “a casual lack of concern,” seemingly, not to care, or unconcerned.
Elie Wiesel, also said, “The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference”.
If I asked you to apply that as a filter to your life…across a myriad of issues…but especially your relationship with God… Would you have the gumption to answer thoughtfully?
I don’t know if I’ve ever heard someone say that about another person. It feels like a moral judgment when someone says, “You’re indifferent to this”. It comes across as:
“You don’t care about what I care about.- You’re failing morally or spiritually.”
I don’t see it as a neutral observation…I feel it’s attacking the heart…
the very core of who we appear to be.
Doesn’t it imply neglect, apathy, or even selfishness? I think it threatens our self-identity or self-image. That’s uncomfortable and suggests a flawed character. And it may very well be!
Don’t we all resist a criticism of the heart? Not like…”You’re late.”Which is about action, But saying, “You’re indifferent,” is about the soul. I think if someone dared to say that to us, we would deny it immediately. It triggers guilt, shame, or defensiveness. Out of social grace, people avoid calling someone out. Why?
1. Fear of conflict.
2. Desire to maintain peace or friendliness.
3. Awareness that labeling someone indifferent can damage relationships.
So, in most cases, we do see indifference in others but say nothing … either because we don’t want to provoke defensiveness or because calling it out feels uncomfortable or confrontational. It’s the times we are living in, but we are not called to be silent.
So what is this, Dennis? An object lesson in Luke Warmness or a Spiritual Perspective on the Offense?
I’m suggesting that you take a hard look at YOU! I always want to be on the edge of challenging you or convicting you as the Spirit leads me. Spiritually, the challenge isn’t just not to be indifferent, but also to speak the truth in love, so offense becomes a doorway to awareness, not resentment.
Here’s the truth: When the heart grows subtly indifferent, it quietly reshapes how we love, learn, and see the world. So, how much have you been affected by this? 15%, 25% or more?
What does God’s word say about turning this around? Matthew 24:12, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”
Love, at its core, is movement toward others. It’s compassion in motion. But indifference freezes that movement.
We stop feeling urgency for the lost, tenderness for the hurting, or joy in serving. Our hearts become detached observers rather than participants in God’s love story.
Indifference is the slow cooling of the heart. It makes us spectators instead of servants.
And when love cools, empathy fades…
we see people as problems to avoid, not souls to reach.
But true love is warm, active, intentional — the kind that moves toward pain, not away from it.
When the Spirit is alive in us, love becomes a reflex, not a chore.
Again, the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.
