When Hatred is a Virtue

You who love the Lord,

hate evil!

Psalm 97:10a, NKJV

I don't think we hate enough.

It's a dangerous statement to make, especially in a climate that is so accepting, tolerant, and all-embracing. But I don't think Christians have enough hate in their hearts.

Now, before you go all ballistic on me and think they I have lost all good sense and reason, take a moment with me to consider this. Hatred is a virtue taught by the Word.

I'm not talking about hating people--either as groups or as individuals. Certainly not! The Bible says that if you claim to love God and at the same time harbor hatred in your heart for another person, you are a liar, and the truth of God is not in you. Jesus says if you have hatred in your life for another person, you are as guilty of murder as if you picked up a gun and shot them. The Bible's instruction to us is to love one another, to love our neighbors, to love our enemies. After all, Jesus demonstrated the love of God by dying for me when I was unlovely, unloving and unlovable. That is the love of God, and we should live that kind of love out every day of our lives.

What I am talking about is hating evil. The Bible says that we should hate the things that God hates. And I'm not going to go into a list here. If you want to know what God hates, go to the Word and find out. Try Proverbs 6:16 and go from there. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord causes us to hate what God hates.

And my question is, do we have enough hate?

Do we hate the influence of evil in our own personal lives, or do we continually tolerate the things that God has commanded us to get rid of?

Do we hate the practice of evil things in our actions, or do we continually excuse ourselves at "not so bad as the next guy"?

Do we hate the stain of evil on our hearts and hands, the scar of evil seared into our souls, the shame of evil in our conscience, or do we continually ignore the pestering prick of the Holy Spirit, dismissing conviction in favor of pleasure?

Do we hate the rampant evil ruining our society, or do we justify it under the guise of political correctness and ignore it because we think the love of God overlooks what is wrong?

Do we hate evil, or do we accept it as unavoidable? How many times have I cringed at the phrases "necessary evil" or "devil's advocate"?

If I hate what God hates, I will hunt those things down in my life and destroy them. If I hate what God hates, I will avoid those things at all costs in my own personal life. I will go the other way. I will step around them and pass on. I will not go where evil abides, I will not be tainted by its touch or corrupted by its companionship, I will not look upon it, or listen to it, or taste or touch or smell it. I will not give evil even the tiniest of toeholds in my life. I will hate evil and everything it stands for.

I will despise evil, wickedness, transgression and sin. I will be sick with indignation and grief. I will mourn the evil around me, I will mourn the evil within me. I will do something about it, not in my strength alone, but in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. I will turn my back on evil, and point my face toward the light.

But at the same time, I will extend the loving grace and wonderful mercy of God to those who are still lost in sin and captivated by evil. I will reach out to the hurting, to those who are dead and don't even know it. I will take the hand of the blind, the wretched, the poor, and the lame, and raise them up with the power of the Word.

If we love God, we will hate evil. But we will love those bound by it enough to tell them, and to teach them, to show them and to lead them into the goodness of God!