Being intimate with God by studying the Word, prayer and loving God are all good. But have you ever thought of intimacy with God through hate? Hate means to detest something, But is hate always wrong?
Psalm 45:6-7 “Your throne O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hate wickedness;” God hates sin and we should too. The reality is that you live in the flesh and your flesh loves sin. But if you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit lives in you and the Holy Spirit hates sin. So You’ve got this battle going on whether you like it or not.
Another problem is when we pick and choose which sins we will hate we create a level of sin that is acceptable to us. We give ourselves license to sin. That is why we must be specific in confessing our sins so the Holy Spirit can help us root out whatever sin we are committing. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to produce in us the same kind of hatred for sin.
There are many things written in the Bible that deal with what God hates. Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.” Notice there are five issues that deal with the individual’s own weakness, the last two deals with how we can damage and affect other people. The key is to look at the sin and go to the opposite direction of that sin. This will enable you to draw close to God.
A. The opposite of pride (haughty eyes) is humility.
Matthew 18:4, “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
B. The opposite of a lying tongue is integrity,
1 Kings 9:4, “As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,”
C. The contrast for hands that shed innocent blood is we should defend the defenseless.
James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this; to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
D. To stop a heart the devises wicked plans, we should be proactively good by serving the Lord.
Galatians 6:10, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
E. Feet that run rapidly to evil are stopped if we immediately obey God.
1 Samuel 15:22, “Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”
F. The opposite of a false witness who utter lies is that of a person who shows no favoritism.
James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others, It is full of mercy and good deeds, It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”
G. The opposite of one who spreads strife among brothers is one who lives in peace.
Ephesian 4:3 “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”
Are the sins in your life you have accepted? Do you hate what God hates or do you just hate some of what God hates? If you were to ask God to enable you to hate something in your life right now, what would it be.?
– CCF Chronicles Vol. 10 No. 31
