142. White Washed Tombstones!

February 6 What the Lord Does Not Hate

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

1. haughty eyes,
2. a lying tongue,
3. hands that shed innocent blood,
4. a heart that devises wicked schemes,
5. feet that are quick to rush into evil,
6. a false witness who pours out lies and
7. a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

~Proverbs 6:16-19

But the fruit of the Spirit is:

1.  love,
2.  joy,
3. peace,
4. patience,
5. kindness,
6. goodness,
7. faithfulness,
8. gentleness, and
9. self-control.

Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ~Galatians 5:22-25

If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~2 Corinthians 5:17

It’s amazing how many ways we can sin. But did you notice something missing from this list of what the Lord hates? Sinners. In fact, people of any kind, are not mentioned at all. God loves sinners. What He hates are sinful behaviors. In other words, what the Lord hates are all things we can choose not to do.  

And some of those things seem so small! Haughty eyes? Really? You mean, just that slight looking down at someone or something with disgust? You hate that God?

A lying tongue? Even a little white lie? Isn’t most gossip some truth with a bit of embellishment mixed in? You hate that God? Really?

I get the shedding of innocent blood. Yah, that’s awful, but I would never do that! except, didn’t Jesus say something about ongoing anger that isn’t resolved? (Matt. 5:20-27)? Hmmmm! There goes that tongue again.

Bearing false witness? Well, that could only happen in court. I don’t think I have to worry about that one, but wait, how about the court of public opinion? When I gossip or, kind of lie, just a little, am I bearing false witness about my neighbor? And You hate that? Well, I suppose that could cause dissension couldn’t it? You do like to see unity. You even prayed for unity among people in your prayer before the cross. (John 17:20-26)

When I choose to do these things you hate, I am not walking in Your Spirit. But, in You, I am a new creation! I am not a hapless victim that has to do these things because my sinful nature just naturally gravitates toward them and pulls me in. No, I am a new creation in You. Your Spirit puts within me the ability to choose love, joy, peace with others, and internally, patience, (really?) gentleness, faithfulness toward you and others and most of all, self-control!

Wow! I can choose this? If I possessed all these qualities, I’d actually be a really likable person wouldn’t I? And, if I were likable in a good way, I would attract others to me and then, I might be able to build a relationship with them and they would know that they were safe with me because  I would be known as someone who could hold my tongue and not gossip or slander or look down on anyone and that might earn me the right to hear their story and then maybe, they would hear my testimony about how You changed me into what I am now and…wow! It’s all to the good, isn’t it, if I choose to walk by Your Spirit and leave those things you hate in the dust and not do them anymore. Wow God! That’s what I want to be, a walking demonstration of what Your Holy Spirit can do in someone who chooses to allow You to change me into someone like You. 

Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

Prayer: Father, help me choose! Jesus thank you for your sympathetic understanding of our situation. Thank you for the power to do the right thing and resist the temptations to do things that come more "naturally." Today, I want to exhibit more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I want to let You live through me, in Jesus' name, amen.  

Song: Holy Spirit Rain Down