Hate Evil
The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!
–Psalm 97:10-12
Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
–Amos 5:14-15
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
–Romans 12:9-10
As is normally the case, I write this looking squarely in the mirror. I am confident that you know these things, but I write to remind myself and prod myself to act.
As a child I was told never to use the word “hate” because it was a bad word describing a bad feeling. Today, expressing hatred towards certain protected groups of people in certain ways is criminal. It would be easy to conclude that we should avoid hatred, yet God’s holy word directs us to hate and promises that hatred will always exist in this world.
Does that surprise you? Jesus promises that the world hates us because we follow Him (see John 15:19), and He tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (see Matthew 5:44). Yet, God’s holy word also directs us to hate evil. How do we square these directives?
We should begin by recognizing that Scripture draws an objective line between good and evil. Conditions exist that are objectively good and objectively evil. Good and evil exist apart from our recognition of them, apart from our reaction to them, apart from how we feel about them. In fact, we might find great pleasure in certain forms of evil, but not only does that not make them good, that makes them significantly more dangerous.
We do not define good and evil: the conditions exist apart from our perception of them. It is like the color of the sky on a cloudless day. It is blue and it continues to be blue even if a person is colorblind and sees it as grey.
So what is good and what is evil? Jesus tells us that only God is good (see Matthew 19:17). God is the standard. Association with God determines the distinction between good and evil and God’s holy word urges us to allow Him to transform us and renew our minds so that we may discern good and evil (see Romans 12:2).
Once we accept that conditions are objectively good and objectively evil, we see that we must choose our response to each. God’s holy word directs us to hate evil and love good. If a condition is objectively evil, we are directed to hate it. There is no room for ambivalence; we are directed to hate it, which means we must see it as evil and we must respond to it as evil.
As we grow in Christ, as we move along the path towards Him, we take on His eyes to see other people as unique individuals whom He created and whom He loves, and we should gradually see conditions, possibly ones we had not noticed before, as evil or good, because His spiritual transformation and the resulting renewal of our minds provides discernment.
God directs us to hate evil, but He also directs us to love the people who perpetuate evil conditions. Hate the condition, not the person who may seem to embody or perpetuate it.
As we consider good and evil, we should look both outwardly and inwardly. We each have the propensity for evil within us and we are each attracted to certain forms of evil. They entice us and we desire the momentary pleasure they provide, but if we pursue them they lead us away from God and block our relationship with God. Like Google, Facebook and Amazon watching our every pause and click and responding by sending us similar feed, Satan studies our actions and reactions and attacks each of us where we are most vulnerable.
How have you battled spiritual attack? Have you done things that have possibly opened the door and invited Satan into your life? If you have invited Satan into your life, effectively granting Satan license to act, then you need to rescind the license. When you hate the evil activity or condition enough to flee from it, to turn from it forever, and to turn towards God fully in every aspect of your life, order Satan out in Jesus’ holy name. But you must hate the evil condition first. You must hate it enough to want it out of your life forever. If you still sort of enjoy it, or enjoy the way you feel when you do it, or enjoy hanging around the people you do it with, you will renew Satan’s license. But hate it and in Jesus’ holy name act to remove it from your life forever and fill the void with Jesus Christ.
Hate evil and hold fast to what is good. Embrace what is good. Hold it tightly and never let go.
We should also look outside ourselves, because evil swirls around us. What evil do you see around you? What evil do you hate? Do you hate COVID? Do you hate injustice? Do you hate discrimination? Do you hate poverty? Do you hate addiction? Do you hate pornography? Perhaps you hate evil in another of its seemingly infinite variety of forms. Do you hate any of them enough to act?
Scripture says, “Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate” (Amos 5:15). If you hate injustice, what will you do to “establish justice” where you live? And if you claim to hate injustice, but are unwilling to act to help establish justice, how are you demonstrating love for your neighbor in need?
If we claim association with Jesus Christ, we should love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves (see Matthew 22:36-40). We should love other people, even those who want to harm us (see Matthew 5:44). At the same time, we should hate evil and act to remedy evil conditions, both within ourselves and out in the world.
May God continue filling you with His power, energy and wisdom as you continue acting to remedy evil conditions within and around you. May God enlighten the eyes of your spirit, may He infuse you with His discerning Spirit, may He continue to reveal His light through you. Amen.