“To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”

One of my young grandchildren told a sibling that they hated them the other day. It broke my heart to hear those words come from their mouth, and it hurt even more to know that their sibling’s ears heard them. I told her she didn’t really hate them. She didn’t want to admit it at the moment, so she made a tight face and stayed quiet. We then talked about whether it was ever okay to hate anyone. She immediately said, “It’s okay to hate Satan.” After a moment of thinking, she asked me if God hated Satan. Theology just went deep. That led to a conversation about what God hates. Ultimately, we talked about how God hates the things that hurt His children—us. All good parents dislike anything that harms their children, and we hate the evil that comes after our kids—sometimes passionately. I have always been deeply saddened by the suffering of children. The unimaginable evil of child abduction and sex trafficking can feel unreal at times. Solomon lists some things followers of God should hate. It follows that we should not participate in them in any fashion. His list, for the most part, seems much less extreme than the things I just mentioned, yet pride and arrogance flourish in our achievement-oriented culture. It’s a difficult balance. Evil behavior and perverse speech are more blatantly of Satan. Our challenge is to hate what God hates—those things that harm His children. Today, love God and hate sin. #BeTheEdge

“Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 97:10 NIV