Saturday, February 20, 2010
Holy Hatred
Holy Hatred
There are some things we just don’t say in our house. We don’t say ‘Shut up!” for instance. We just don’t like the sound of it and think it is dishonoring to a person. And we don’t say “I hate __________” because we all know that we are supposed to love not hate. The acceptable exception for me must be the weather, because many times these past weeks I have growled and said that I hate winter.
It got me to thinking about what I hate … and what God hates. In part because, as I was reading the Bible this morning, I came across this exhortation:
“Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.” Deut. 7:26 (NRSV)
Hello? I’m pretty sure that abhor and detest is just another way of saying hate. And God has urged me to reserve my hatred for what is unholy. What is not like Him or of Him or honoring of His will .. is to be utterly detested and abhorred. Pretty strong language, don’t you think?
As I fit this thought into my Lenten journey, I am re-convicted of two implications:
1) I choose what comes into my house. I have control over the media choices I make, and the attitudes I bring, and the ways in which I act within the castle of my home and with my family. I choose the manner in which I live, and what values I will live by. The Easter season is a perfect time to refresh my passion for righteousness and my ‘hatred’ of unholiness.
2) The Word of God establishes holiness. What is righteous is not a function of the latest Internet poll, or news survey, or public fad, or personal opinion. Holiness, and the standards by which it is measured, are revealed through the Scriptures and the working of the Spirit, revealing Jesus to me. Here’s the rub: I won’t be fashioned in holiness if I a not consistently immersed in Scripture. The Word of God is the tool of the Spirit to shape me and form me and make me in to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And that’s the goal!
As clichéd as it sounds, you and I cannot mature in our faith apart from a commitment to being men and women of the Word. Daily reading and meditation. Regular study and application. Memorizing, contemplating and wrestling with the written Word are necessary if we are to follow in the footsteps of the Living Word.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NRSV)
In the Word,
Harry
There are some things we just don’t say in our house. We don’t say ‘Shut up!” for instance. We just don’t like the sound of it and think it is dishonoring to a person. And we don’t say “I hate __________” because we all know that we are supposed to love not hate. The acceptable exception for me must be the weather, because many times these past weeks I have growled and said that I hate winter.
It got me to thinking about what I hate … and what God hates. In part because, as I was reading the Bible this morning, I came across this exhortation:
“Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.” Deut. 7:26 (NRSV)
Hello? I’m pretty sure that abhor and detest is just another way of saying hate. And God has urged me to reserve my hatred for what is unholy. What is not like Him or of Him or honoring of His will .. is to be utterly detested and abhorred. Pretty strong language, don’t you think?
As I fit this thought into my Lenten journey, I am re-convicted of two implications:
1) I choose what comes into my house. I have control over the media choices I make, and the attitudes I bring, and the ways in which I act within the castle of my home and with my family. I choose the manner in which I live, and what values I will live by. The Easter season is a perfect time to refresh my passion for righteousness and my ‘hatred’ of unholiness.
2) The Word of God establishes holiness. What is righteous is not a function of the latest Internet poll, or news survey, or public fad, or personal opinion. Holiness, and the standards by which it is measured, are revealed through the Scriptures and the working of the Spirit, revealing Jesus to me. Here’s the rub: I won’t be fashioned in holiness if I a not consistently immersed in Scripture. The Word of God is the tool of the Spirit to shape me and form me and make me in to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And that’s the goal!
As clichéd as it sounds, you and I cannot mature in our faith apart from a commitment to being men and women of the Word. Daily reading and meditation. Regular study and application. Memorizing, contemplating and wrestling with the written Word are necessary if we are to follow in the footsteps of the Living Word.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NRSV)
In the Word,
Harry
Labels: hatred, holiness, Scripture
