It’s wise to hate evil
Proverbs 8:13 (NLT) All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.
The reverent fear and worshipful awe of the Lord will cause someone to hate evil. We don’t hate evil people, but we do hate all evil. The source of all evil is the devil. When we reverence and stand in awe of a holy God, then evil becomes very clear to us. There is no gray area. It is interesting that so many in the body of Christ have fallen into the devil’s trap of calling what God calls evil, good. If God calls something evil or even an abomination in the Old Testament, He hasn’t changed His mind about it. Jesus paid a high price for us to be delivered from everything evil, but that doesn’t mean that now God, the Father, is okay with evil and evil practices. You don’t have to concentrate on finding out what is evil. If you will concentrate on reverencing a holy, awesome God, you will know what is evil.
This verse does go on to say some of the things that God considers evil. The first two are attitudes, pride and arrogance. We know that pride goes before a fall. If someone gets into pride, it won’t be long until that pride causes destruction. The cure: Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. This verse is Proverbs 16:18, and it also says that a haughty spirit, or arrogance, goes before a fall. We have to know that anything and everything we have, have achieved, or ever done that has resulted in good has come because there is an awesome, loving, and gracious God who has enabled us.
Having a reverence for the Lord will also keep us from being corrupt. Corruption of any sort, cheating people, stealing from your employer, and any other such things will not be tolerated by God. How do we keep from falling into these things? By standing in awe of an amazing God. When we reverence God, and part of that is worshiping Him, you will not then turn around and have perverse speech. The more you offer your thoughts and your tongue to magnify and reverence Him, the less trouble you will have with a perverse and foul mouth.
Spend some time reverencing the Almighty God. Lift up your voice and give Him the honor that is due Him. As you do that, you will be able to recognize what is evil, and you will be able to steer clear of it.