Hate the evil, love the good

“Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” - Amos 5v14-15

We live in a day when the lines between good and evil are blurred. Even Christians seem to have difficulty seeing what is good and what is evil and sometimes don’t understand that “never the twain shall meet. The mixing of evil and good causes a luke-warmness that we know makes God sick.

What do we as Christians do about it? What does God say? God made something clear to Israel that is just as valid today – “Hate the evil and love the good.” He uses two very strong terms so that there is no confusion. He doesn’t say “Dislike the evil and like the good.” He doesn’t say, “Use the evil if it helps you to achieved good.” He says, “Hate the evil, love the good.”

If we want to prove our love to Him we must have his perspective on evil and good. What is it so hard for us the follow His instructions. If we were to be honest we would have to admit that part of the reason is that though we may love the good, we don’t REALLY hate the evil.

We are to love all men, but we are to HATE the evil which is part of their lives. We must not coddle evil, or even give it credence. Evil deserves one response from us – hatred.