Don't be Overcome by Evil
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”
Romans 12:9 (NIV)
God has great wisdom available for us in our relationships. And we need that wisdom because we all have the opportunity every day to allow the seeds of what could
become evil in our lives to take root. So, we need to know and be on God’s path when it comes to our relationships.
Romans 12 is a great chapter that points us to a sincere love and verse 9 tells us to hate evil and cling to good. What does evil include? We could come up with some
obvious answers, but what else does God include?
WHAT DOES GOD HATE?
Proverbs gives us God’s list of what He hates, and it is a surprising list:
“There are seven things the Lord hates. There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies,a person who sows discord in a family.”
Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT)
Haughty Eyes
The first thing on the list is surprising. Haughty eyes. That sounds bad but not bad enough to be at the top of the list. What are haughty eyes? Haughty eyes are the
eyes that look down on others.
In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable about two guys who went to the Temple to pray and one was a tax collector with a messy life. The tax collector prayed and asked to be
forgiven, and to be given mercy because he said: I am a sinner. And his prayers were answered. The other guy was a religious zealot who followed all of God’s rules but
prayed: Lord, I thank You that I am not like that tax collector. And then talked about all the ways he was better than the tax collector. And his prayers were not
answered. The religious guy wasn’t called just prideful, the Bible tells us: “He looked down on others”.
What is that? Haughty eyes. Whenever we look down on others, or we put ourselves as superior to someone else, or we disagree with someone and we know we are
right and they are wrong–all examples of haughty eyes. We all have ways that we have haughty eyes. The Lord wants us to understand what evil is, what you’re going to
hate, one of the things is anything like haughty eyes.
A Lying Tongue
Next on the list is a lying tongue. Dishonesty.
Hands That Kill the Innocent
That one I thought would make the list, but not those first two.
A Heart That Plots Evil
Sure, that’s really bad.
Feet That Race To Do Wrong
Of course, that is never good.
A False Witness Who Pours Out Lies
Definitely an evil thing.
A Person Who Sows Discord In A Family
This is a person who sees themselves as standing up for what is right. But this is a person who just has to fight over things. They think they are always right and their
viewpoint is the only viewpoint to have. They don’t think they are stirring up dissension, they are standing up for righteousness.
But Scripture tells us God is God and we are not, and He can take care of a whole lot of things. I am not to spread rumors, manipulate, or I’ve got to fight for my way.
This makes God’s list also. The sense of–I've gotta fight for my way, these things are right up there on the evil list with all of the things we'd expect.
CLING TO WHAT IS GOOD
What does it mean to cling to good? Cling means to glue to something. This is a command in Romans 12:9, which means there is choice involved here. I can choose what I cling to, or I can choose to let it go. Hate evil, cling to justice, mercy and humility. How do I cling to what is good? Here are three ways the Bible talks about:
Choose What I Think About
Just watch the news for one cycle and you will be stressed out. Instead of being a worrier, stop thinking on the things that make you worry and choose to be a person who trusts God and lives by faith.
Choose What I Pursue
Choose to arrange my life around God’s path. Pursue what is good. One of the biggest challenges we all face is to say no to things that don’t keep us on God’s path.