There has been such an overwhelming focus on God’s love over the past few decades that it may come as a surprise to many that there are things that God does indeed hate. Yes, it’s true. God is a God of love AND a God of hate. It shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise to us. After all we are made in His image and our passions flow in both directions as well.
While we don’t have time in this article to do an exhaustive study of the topic, it is fairly safe to say that all of the things God hates can be placed into two categories: 1.) Actions that diminish His rightful worship; 2.) Actions that diminish or corrupt His Creation.
The first deals with false religion, idols, witchcraft, etc. In a nutshell, God hates anything and everything that seeks to replace Him or is exalted above Him.
The second category covers a lot of ground, but largely deals with the way we interact with others. Proverbs 6:16-19 lays out seven specific things that God hates. They are often referred to as the “seven deadly sins.”
Pride:
Proverbs 16:18 tells us that pride goes before destruction. When someone considers themselves better than another person, they place themselves in God’s sights to be humbled. The apostle Paul exhorts us to serve others and to think of others as being better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). I know this isn’t very popular in todays “self-esteem” society, but faithful disciples still live by it.
Lying:
With all of the politically charged rhetoric around, it may seem that lying isn’t really a big deal anymore. Sure it’s in the top 10 (commandments that is), but everybody does it right? Well God must really hate this one because in the second to the last chapter in the whole Bible, Jesus says that all liars will have a place in the lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8)
Murder:
The killing of the innocent is number 3 on our list of seven things God hates. It is disheartening to hear how death threats are thrown around just because someone doesn’t like someone else’s opinion. It is also disconcerting to witness the degradation of morals as highly credentialed and esteemed people advocate for the killing of the aged, the unborn, the handicapped, and other “undesirables.”
Evil Plans:
God absolutely hates it when someone plans to do evil. I can only try to imagine His outrage at all the evil scheming and conniving going on these days. Absolutely, He hated the plans for London, Charlottesville, Barcelona, et al. but He also hates the day to day scheming by governments, organizations, churches and individuals to defraud, enslave, diminish and otherwise take advantage of the people He created.
Eager Sin:
God hates sin, but sin alone is not listed in the deadly seven. More than sin itself, God hates eager sin. Eager sin is when people create a lifestyle of sin. This goes beyond simply falling short of God’s high standards. It is when people look forward to it, think about it, stick their tongue out at God and say, “it’s my life and I’ll do what I want, when I want.” This kind of attitude infuriates God. It is a great blessing that God is patient and longsuffering. If He were not, many would not live long (2 Peter 3:9). But don’t be deceived, His patience will not last forever. Turn to God while there is still time and He will forgive and forget.
False Witness:
I guess lying is so big on God’s hate list that He mentioned it twice. This one however, is a little different than run-of-the-mill lying. This is when a person gives false testimony against someone else. This could be in a court of law or in normal conversation (gossip).
Troublemaking:
God hates it when people stir stuff up and cause discord. It is such a serious issue that Titus tells us to warn a divisive person twice and if they still don’t listen, we should have nothing more to do with them. He tells us that such a person is warped, sinful and self-condemned (Titus 3:9-11). The wise King Solomon wrote that a person who covers up offense seeks love but someone who talks about it separates close friends. Jesus said that Peacemakers, on the other hand, are blessed and shall be called the sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)
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So there you go, seven thing that God absolutely hates. It should not be supposed that any of this diminishes God’s love, rather it reveals it. How could we possibly believe He loves so much, if He didn’t hate the things that diminish us?
So if you have to hate – and it seems we all do, hate what God hates and while you’re at it, love what God loves. Go all the way and fulfill all of the commandments of God’s Holy Word. Does that sound like too much? Jesus said all the laws of the Prophets are contained in only two commandments – that if we do those, we have fulfilled all of the law, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… And… Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40). Anything else, comes from the pits of Hell.
Shalom!