Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
– Psalm 97:10, KJV
Do you love the Lord?
The command here in the Psalms is rather clear:
Hate evil!
It is strong language. But this is what Scripture teaches us. We are to hate evil.
Neutrality and dispassionate consideration of evil is not in the realm of people who truly love God. This is what this Psalm tells us plainly. Our hearts are to move as God heart is moved. We are to hate what God hates.
And make no mistake:
Adultery is evil!
Deuteronomy 22:22 makes that very clear. So, this tells us that people who love the Lord will hate adultery. They will not act in neutrality about this sin. They will have strong feelings about it. People who love God will hate adultery.
This is a healthy reminder to a culture apt to write off people who show strong feelings. It tells us that certain strong feelings are completely appropriate for God’s people. In fact, the absence of such feelings may even call into question whether a person really loves God.
Evil is a big deal to God.
He hates it.
And so should His people!
DM,
I was getting caught up in saying “evil people”. Thank for the reminder, it’s the sin, not the people who are evil. I was focusing too much on the persons.
Thanks for the reminder. Pray for the sinner, hate the sin.