God Hates This

 We here so much about God's love these days and rightly so. We just do not always hear about those things He hates. Just as much as God is loving, gracious, compassionate and forgiving, He is also just, righteous, holy, and a God capable of hate. 

You do not have to look much further than Proverbs 6 to find a list of things God hates. 

Proverbs 6:16-19 (NASB)
¹⁶  There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷  Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸  A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
¹⁹  A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

The word hates means to detest and to turn against. These are things God opposes. 

The first is haughty eyes. I think this refers to prideful people. Pride is an ugly sin. So ugly God says He opposes the proud in [James 4:6]. Proud people exalt themselves. They think they are sufficient in and of themselves with no need for help from God or anyone else. They are independent. Above the laws of God.  God opposes all of that. He gives grace to the humble. 

God also hates a lying tongue. This means to deceive and talk slanderously. When the truth is not spoken, or the truth is embellished. It happens quite frequently in Christian circles. We are told not to be truth tellers all throughout the scripture. God required the lives of Annanias and his wife for telling a lie in Acts 5. Jesus followers should be known for speaking the truth and not deceiving people. 

A few years ago Brenda and I sold our home. We had major foundation problems. We disclosed this truth up front instead of trying to hide it like happened to us when we bought the home in the first place. It meant taking a huge hit on the sales price. We had to tell the truth. 

God also hates murder. People who take another person's life for no apparent reason. A drive by shooting. Mass shootings at schools, malls, and churches. These scenes are all too familiar to us. We see them often in the headlines. 

There is another kind of murder. The murder that comes from abortion. I have been sickened to my stomach watching a certain political ad where the politician states supporting abortion while in the same ad showing his two sons and promoting family. On one hand he is advocating for the murder of innocent children in the womb while also wanting to appear that he values life. Freedom of choice is just an excuse to kill. It is still murder. 

God hates hearts that devise wicked plans. I cannot help but think about people like Bill Gates, George Soros, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Klaus Swab. Even the Pope. Wicked men devising wicked plans to destroy people. Hitler did the same. So did Stalin. These people sit around devising evil agendas to control, manipulate, and perpetrate wickedness over the masses. They will be held accountable in eternity. 

Likewise, God detests feet that run rapidly to evil. People who prefer to flock to sin rather than holiness. They prefer depraved and defiled lifestyles than purity and holiness. Such people run to drugs. Drugs are destroying this country. I spend my Sunday afternoons in a detox center teaching the Bible. The clients there are not always down and outers, low lives, and gutter dwellers. There are respectable people, well dressed, well educated, and we groomed who are caught in the vice of addiction too. Drugs destroy families. It weakens the workforce. It is prevalent in the church pews on Sunday mornings. It happens among the rich as well as the poor. 

In addition, there is the rapid run toward sexual addictions. Pornography. Immorality. Fornication. Adultery. Sex sales and people know how to market it. Pornography is as available as a cell phone. Anyone can find it and many do. One look, one glance, one tap or click and Satan has them. Then it becomes a life living in the shadows. A life of unbridled lust. None of this pleases God. 

God also hates a false witness. To put that another way is to give a deceptive report or testimony. This happens all the time when people repeat and spread gossip. Self righteous hypocrites can do this just as well as pagans can. They do not always corroborate the facts. They repeat what they hear even if what they hear is exaggerated and or filled with half truths. 

The last thing God includes on this list of things He hates is to spread strife among brothers. I have seen it among Christian people more than I have seen among unbelievers. People like to build camps of people who side with them. They divide and conquer. They work the phones, social media, and any and every angle to get people to side with them. Division occurs. Relationships are broken. Reconciliation is forsaken. Biblical principles in [Matthew 18: 15-17] are neglected conveniently. Those who stir up strife have an agenda. It does not matter how much harm and destruction they leave in their wake. They are self centered. They are not peacemakers. They are certainly not grace people. They are the ones who split churches. They are bitter, unforgiving, resentful, people hell bent on getting their way. God detests such actions. 

We celebrate the love of God. Do we also celebrate the hatred of God? Both are biblical. May we not be counted among those engaging in actions God hates. If we are guilty, repentance is in order. God can and will forgive according to [I Jn 1:9].