Hate Evil and Love Good
Those of you who have read this blog for a while have probably read something similar to this before. However, I do not apologize for repeating this truth, because it is so vital to living the Christian life, as we should. Amos put it very succinctly,"Hate evil; love good." (Amos 5:15) We must do both, or we will fail miserably in trying to live for Christ.
Many people simply want to love good. They think that life is that simple. However, Satan continually comes to tempt them, and they give in to temptation, and they fail time after time. They have left out one part that is even more important than loving what is good. They do not hate evil. It takes a firm commitment to hate evil, if we want to do the good things and be like Jesus.
Why is this the case? The principle is this: We must stop from doing evil before we can do what is right. Therefore, the first step must be to hate the sinful things just like God does. We must ask God to give us a hatred for what He hates. Then, we can be sensitive to listen to the Spirit to show us what we should hate. If we have decided firmly to hate evil, we will stop and let the Spirit give us strength to do the right thing. Then, we can grow to love good, because we are practicing it over and over, and we can see the benefits, like establishing justice. When we do this, God will be gracious to us and help us become more like Jesus every day.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Amos 7-9.
Many people simply want to love good. They think that life is that simple. However, Satan continually comes to tempt them, and they give in to temptation, and they fail time after time. They have left out one part that is even more important than loving what is good. They do not hate evil. It takes a firm commitment to hate evil, if we want to do the good things and be like Jesus.
Why is this the case? The principle is this: We must stop from doing evil before we can do what is right. Therefore, the first step must be to hate the sinful things just like God does. We must ask God to give us a hatred for what He hates. Then, we can be sensitive to listen to the Spirit to show us what we should hate. If we have decided firmly to hate evil, we will stop and let the Spirit give us strength to do the right thing. Then, we can grow to love good, because we are practicing it over and over, and we can see the benefits, like establishing justice. When we do this, God will be gracious to us and help us become more like Jesus every day.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Amos 7-9.