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| Share Agape for the week of September 15, 2003 |
| Seven Things God Hates "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." Proverbs 6:16-19 Well, this week's Bible study lays it all out, doesn't it? Seven things the Bible states clearly and plainly that God hates. I guess we better check them out! I find it interesting that three of the seven things mentioned here have to do with our mouths: Lying, lying specifically about others, and spreading rumors or gossip. Now, all of us know lying is wrong, whether or not we're Christians. And, sadly, most of us lie only with premeditation. In fact, for some of us, lying is a difficult habit to break, even after we dedicate our lives to Christ. Yet the book of Revelation tells us "all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur" (21: 8). Although the world may tell us that lying is a minor sin, especially if it's done for "the better good," in fact, lying is "big" enough that God included a prohibition against it in the Ten Commandments. It's right up there with murder and adultery! If that's not enough of a warning, lying is mentioned here in three variations; obviously, it greatly displeases God. For most of us, the sin that our mouths fall most easily into is stirring up dissention. How often do we, without thinking, spread rumors about others in our daily conversation? How often do we complain about our boss, or jobs, or pastor, or neighbors? How many of us would have very little to talk about if we weren't talking about others? We may think such conversation is harmless, but how often do those words really affect others? We may even convince ourselves that we're talking about them "just to be honest" or that we need to "speak the truth in love." There's certainly nothing wrong with honesty or speaking the truth in love. But this passage in Proverbs encourages us to stop and wonder if we really are speaking out of Christian love. I once read that before you begin speaking about someone else, you should stop and consider: "If someone was saying this about me, how would it make me feel? How would it affect my life?" I think that's pretty good advice; certainly it will prevent us from falling into one of the things that displeases God the most. But Proverbs doesn't just focus on our mouths. What about our eyes? Are they pulling us further away from God? In this passage, Proverbs isn't even talking about looking lustfully at someone (Matt. 5:28), or coveting (Ex. 20:17), or any of the more common things we hear about the eyes and sin. Proverbs is talking about "haughty eyes." Of course, it isn't the look itself that's the root of the problem-it's what causes us to look that way. When we have a haughty expression, we're looking down on others and trying to raise ourselves above them. We're prideful. We're arrogant. Yet the Bible tells us, with Christ we're all equal (Gal. 3:28). Hands are the next part of the body that's mentioned in this Bible passage. Both literally and figuratively, God hates the hands that kill innocent people. God ordained the death penalty in the Old Testament, but he loathes injustice of any kind (Ezek. 9:9). If you're thinking, "Well, I've never murdered anyone!" stop and consider this: "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him" (1 John 3:15). Then there's our feet. They may look innocent enough, but God hates our feet when they're quick to rush into evil. Whenever we cast off God's commands, whenever we do what we know is wrong, whenever we leap into wrong-doing, we're jumping head first into behavior that God most abhors. Yet none of these things--our lying tongues, our haughty eyes, our murderous hands, or our quick feet--are at the root of the problem. For that, we must look to our hearts. Truly, our hearts are the well from which everything in us drinks. And if our hearts are busy seeping ungodly feelings, then everything about us will spew forth things that God hates. Until we begin working with him to change us into more godly individuals, we'll never be able to avoid the seven things that God MORE ~~~> |
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