Hating Evil

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;

Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

Proverbs 8:13

There it is again--the fear of the Lord. Fear does mean terror, and the reality of coming face to face with Almighty God ought to strike terror in the hearts of those who don't know Him. Fear also means being in awe, which ought to be the attitude of Christians when coming into His presence. Fear is reverence and respect, something that is often lacking in the casual Christianity of today. We feel free to be familiar with God, as if he is our buddy coming over for snacks and football. But seldom do we really exercise the healthy fear of him that we should have.

It's not that I have anything to be afraid of, really. I mean, even though He is a God of justice and judgment, He is also a God of fairness and forgiveness. He may be a God of wrath, but He is also a God of love, and in wrath He remembers mercy. As long as I keep my life altared before Him, penitent and humble, I have everything to be in awe of and nothing to be afraid of.

But now the wise king tells us that the fear of the Lord means to hate evil. We who fear the Lord are to hate what God hates, and He's already told us what He hates--pride, dishonesty, violence, evil, wickedness, discord. These are the things that God hates, and Solomon reiterates them again here. So I ask myself this question: Do I hate what God hates?

Do I hate pride and arrogance, or do I find myself thinking just a little more highly of myself than I ought?

Do I hate the evil way, or do I find myself tempted to walk just a little too closely to that line, wondering what it would be like to cross over for just a moment?

Do I hate the perverse mouth, or do I handle the truth a little too lightly and color my language with words God would not approve?

If I really feared God, and I really hated the things that God hates, I wouldn't be doing them. Of course, the NT shows us the reverse side of the fear factor--He is a God to fear, but He is also a God to love. But that liberating love holds us to the same high standard as legalistic fear. If you love me, Jesus said, keep my commandments. And John said, If you love God, you do not sin.

I need to hate what God hates, but even more, I need to love the Lord!