#6 Me?? Of Course Not!!
I am moving fast in many facets of my world, but the blog world has been painfully slow. As I creep through the 26 Things I Have Learned About God, Husbands, and Kids, however, I am amazed by how few problems really exist, yet how often the same problems show up. If you have been around my husband, Chris, or me much, you have likely heard us say, “The enemy doesn’t have a hundred sins he tempts you with, but there are likely a handful that he just keeps repackaging.” Well, I think Proverbs 6:16-19 reminded me of that in my priority time this morning.
You may remember that this passage states the things God hates.
'There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.’
Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV
Don’t tell, but I had to double-check what “haughty” means. In case you were wondering, it means “disdainfully proud” or “scornfully arrogant.” To my earlier point, the remainder of the list has two that are about lying and three I would lump together as “causing evil to happen.” If you have counted yourself a mature Christian, there is a danger in reading this passage and just checking it off the list. “Of course, I don’t lie, kill, or do evil things!”
What the Holy Spirit reminded me today was that God has a higher calling for His children than not being bad. Solomon wrote this Proverb as a warning, but the call is for us to reflect Jesus, which led me to ask, “If this is what the Lord hates, am I doing what He loves?” Consider this list of opposites:
Humble eyes
Truthful tongue
Hands that protect
Hearts that devise plans for good
Feet that run to help
A truth teller
One that builds harmony among people
Jesus did not die so we would do a little less evil. He died to forgive us and give us a new nature. Through salvation, we are new creatures. Through the Holy Spirit, we can live out the fruit of the Spirit, not just be less bad.
Consider asking the Lord to show you:
Where are you currently looking at someone with eyes of criticism and tearing them down rather than seeing them as a son or daughter of the King?
Where are you giving yourself permission to withhold information or distort information to your advantage rather than being truthful?
Where is there an opportunity for you to build trust and harmony that you have not chosen to engage?
It is such a privilege to be a child of God. I pray that as we continue to mature, we will come to this passage not with a sense of pressure to please Him, but from a place of gratitude that He looks at us through humble eyes, which motivates us to want to be just like Him.