Hating Evil

Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.

Wisdom speaks. The wisdom of God, personified in Proverbs 8, cries out to mankind, warning us, reproving us, calling us. And we must learn from it.

Here in verse 13, I see something from wisdom, from the wisdom of God, that I do not think is popular in modern Christianity. Perhaps it is not popular in my own weak heart. But it should be. I know, we all know, that we are to fear the Lord. Here we see that the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.

So, the question: Do we hate evil? Look around. Examine the church. Examine yourself. Do you hate evil? I am not asking myself or asking you whether or not you think it sad when something major and ugly takes place in society. I’m asking if we hate what God calls evil. Do we actually hate things that society embraces but which God calls evil? That will be unpopular.

Honestly, even hating evil as a concept is fairly unpopular today. Our society suggests that we should be saddened by what we think is wrong, or perhaps we should just tolerate what is wrong, but surely we are not to hate it. Read the posts of many popular Christians today, and you will not see language that indicates hatred of evil. Our posts have far more to do with sympathy and empathy for the wicked than of hatred of evil.

But if we are to follow the Lord, if we are to fear the Lord as his word commands, we must hate evil. God’s wisdom says so. This tells us that, as loving as Jesus is, he hates evil. And Jesus is our Lord. May we learn to be both strong and gracious like the Savior. And may we seek the help of the word and the Spirit to hate what God hates.