As Christians we should always agree with God on what He says is right and what He says is wrong. We should love what He loves and hate what He hates. And our actions should always reflect it as well. The Bible tells us exactly what He loves and exactly what He hates. These verses in Proverbs pierced my heart this morning. As I pondered what God hates, two of them jumped out to me. In our crazy mixed-up world, these can become a little foggy. So, it’s worth a moment of our time to discuss them.
God hates… hands that kill the innocent. Immediately, I thought of all those innocent babies who have been killed by the abortionist hands. This is probably the most controversial topic in our world today. Millions of people believe one of the biggest lies that Satan has spewed: it’s just a bunch of cells. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately, this lie has seeped into the church. Psalm 139 refutes this lie. Unborn babies have a right to live and those who take that life away are guilty before God. Now… God does forgive those who have had abortions or those who have had a part someone else’s abortion. Many people have been freed from the condemnation of abortion.
Here's the thing, though. We can be guilty of killing the innocent by remaining quiet, by burying our head in the sand, by turning a blind eye. Or here’s one that we often don’t think about… we are guilty of this sin when we vote for candidates who are pro-choice. We should always look at the agenda before casting our vote. There is never a perfect candidate, but we should always vote for the pro-life candidate. ALWAYS!
God hates… a person who sows discord in a family. I’m certain that each of us have some sort of discord in our family, or we’ve witnessed it in other families. And it can be one person who has sown it. Sometimes it can be an outsider, like a spouse, or often it’s someone inside the family. One thing we need to remember is that God is not the one who divides… that’s Satan. God is all about unity. A family will fall apart when discord is sown. I’ve seen families so divided that they stand on opposite sides throwing accusations in each other’s faces. I’ve seen one family member cast aside like a piece of trash. People in our family who have done things or said things need our love, not our condemnation.
Here’s the thing… we can be just as guilty in sowing discord if we are a part of it, if we allow it, if we remain quiet. Let me encourage you to be the unifier, not the divider. Pray about it and seek to bring the family together. And don’t be a part of gossip. Gossip destroys. Work at lifting people up with your words. If someone in your family has been pushed aside, make an effort to reach out to them and share Jesus’ love with them. Let’s not be guilty of sowing discord.
I hope these words today encourage you.