7 Things God Hates. Do You Make The List?

I don’t think it is a secret that the world is messed up. We are now at the point where even the most optimistic person wakes up each day wondering what tragedy will steal the headline. And that headline is likely only to last a few hours.

Yesterday morning on the way to work I was detoured around a crime scene. The night before a man had drawn a gun on police standing on an overpass. They returned fire, shooting him in the leg. He then went off of the overpass onto the highway before, dying a couple of hours later at the hospital. I thought that would be the headline for the day.

But as I winded my way through the detour another tragedy was being played out in Virginia. A racist disgruntled former news station employee was arriving at a live interview to shoot two news journalists, and put the woman being interviewed in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the back. Beyond that, he actually recorded his evil deed to post to social media. Yes… he recorded himself drawing a gun on his targets and shooting them at point blank range. He later died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds acquired while speeding away from the police.

Later in the day a Louisiana police officer was shot dead.

And 3000 babies were killed through abortion yesterday as well, though that didn’t make the news.

The world is going to hell so fast, it doesn’t have time to get into a hand basket.  It is almost overwhelming at times. We rightly hate these things. Even the most gracious and forgiving person has to shake their head at the depths of wickedness pouring forth. These activities are not new, but they are picking up in frequency and observance.

The book of Proverbs in the Bible is a collection of wise sayings and teachings. Here is a section from that book…

“The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to Him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

There are billions of things the Lord sees every day that He does not like. But apparently there are 6 things He hates and actually 7 that are detestable. This may be a good list to memorize. Perhaps these are the things that cause Him to turn things over. Are they in your life?

·         Arrogant Eyes

·         A Lying Tongue

·         Hands That Shed Innocent Blood

·         A Heart That Plots Wicked Schemes

·         Feet Eager To Run To Evil

·         A Lying Witness Who Gives False Testimony

·         One Who Stirs Up Trouble Among Brothers

That’s an interesting list I think most of us are free and clear on some of those. I think some of those would make most everyone’s list of the things they hate. But how powerful is it that ‘a lying tongue’ is right next to ‘hands that shed innocent blood’? Arrogant eyes? Really?!? God hates them? Does He really hate arrogant eyes like He hates people who rush to do evil things? Well, apparently so.

I think all of the things God hates are connected in the sense that all of these activities leave victims. One of the most painful things to watch yesterday was the news reporter being shot. She was simply doing her job. In that sense, she was innocent. She wasn’t bothering anyone. She never saw the shooter coming. He walked up, stood a few feet away from her, pulled the gun, and shot her multiple times. He had arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, blood-thirsty hands, an evil-plotting heart, feet that ran to do bad things, a history of telling formal lies to government agencies, and obviously stirred up conflict between people. He was the total package in this regard.

But it all starts with a look. Watch your eyes today. Watch your mouth. Watch your hands. Watch your feet. Watch your heart. Any one of us can be or become the worst person in history. But not if we stay away from those things God hates.

[Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.]

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

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