"Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart."
Psalms 97:10-11
It's interesting to be told to hate something, isn't it? God is about love and light, and doesn't often encourage "negative" emotions. But when I think about what we usually do with evil... take it in small doses, flirt with it a little, choke it down when we think we have to in order to get what we want... God's admonition here seems overwhelmingly wise. Importantly, we're not told to hate *people* who take evil actions. We're told to hate evil itself. And if we do hate it, we won't be so casual about allowing it into our hearts, minds, and lives. God tells us this in order to preserve our souls, and deliver us out of the hands of the wicked. Sometimes we think that compromising with evil is the best we can do. We think accepting a little evil here or there is okay, and that it won't poison or corrupt us. But in the end, it always does. We can't be tolerant and accepting of evil. Not evil. We have to hate it, and reject it whenever we see it. We can't let it into our lives and think that it is okay. We can't watch it or listen to it, or make a deal with it.
God is about light, and love, and happiness. And that is what he has in store for us. He plants them for us, and even though it doesn't happen all at once, if we are willing to nurture and harvest that light for ourselves, we won't have to worry about darkness. Today, let's love people and do good, but let's hate and reject the darkness and the evil that hurts the world and wants to become part of us. Let's weed our gardens of light instead, and only give room within ourselves for God and his goodness.
Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart."
Psalms 97:10-11
It's interesting to be told to hate something, isn't it? God is about love and light, and doesn't often encourage "negative" emotions. But when I think about what we usually do with evil... take it in small doses, flirt with it a little, choke it down when we think we have to in order to get what we want... God's admonition here seems overwhelmingly wise. Importantly, we're not told to hate *people* who take evil actions. We're told to hate evil itself. And if we do hate it, we won't be so casual about allowing it into our hearts, minds, and lives. God tells us this in order to preserve our souls, and deliver us out of the hands of the wicked. Sometimes we think that compromising with evil is the best we can do. We think accepting a little evil here or there is okay, and that it won't poison or corrupt us. But in the end, it always does. We can't be tolerant and accepting of evil. Not evil. We have to hate it, and reject it whenever we see it. We can't let it into our lives and think that it is okay. We can't watch it or listen to it, or make a deal with it.
God is about light, and love, and happiness. And that is what he has in store for us. He plants them for us, and even though it doesn't happen all at once, if we are willing to nurture and harvest that light for ourselves, we won't have to worry about darkness. Today, let's love people and do good, but let's hate and reject the darkness and the evil that hurts the world and wants to become part of us. Let's weed our gardens of light instead, and only give room within ourselves for God and his goodness.
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