The Plumbline

Scripture outlines six things God hates, and if six were not enough, God adds just one more (kind of like the cherry on top) that God has some pretty serious feelings about (in fact, we might call it a total loathing for that thing). Hate carries the idea of a very intense, passionate dislike of something. Loathing carries a sense of disgust and gives one the idea that God is repulsed by the type of action he is observing - actions not 'befitting' a person who calls himself a child of God. In total, seven things God asks us to take notice of in our lives and then seek his help to break free of them so we can live in a manner that shows we are engaged with him on this journey of 'right-living'. Our eyes get us into so much trouble - almost as much as our mouth - so it should come as no surprise that the 'top two' things God hates have to do with these two! Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue

I used to teach my kids not to use the word "hate" when they described their dislike of something.  For example, whenever they said they "hated broccoli" I would ask them to change it to they "disliked broccoli".  Broccoli is an inanimate object - it has not soul.  Hatred carries this idea of "enmity" within the relationship - and my kids had no relationship with broccoli!  Whenever they said they "hated" this kid or that one, I would ask why they were feeling such passionate dislike and hostility toward them.  I tried to connect the difference between dislike and hatred by the idea of relationship.  We relate to people, not to an inanimate object.  We therefore have the ability to destroy people when we don't get things right in relationship with them.  We can regrow broccoli, but regrowing relationship is quite a different matter!  When God says he "hates" something, he means he has an aversion to it so strongly because

16-19  Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family. (Proverbs 6:16-19) Solomon outlines for us six things God hates and adds just one more (kind of like the cherry on top) that God has some pretty serious feelings about (loathing).  Hate carries the idea of intense, passionate dislike of something.  Loathing carries a sense of disgust and gives one the idea that God is repulsed by the type of action he sees. Haughty eyes (arrogant eyes) - pride is a battle we must fight every day.  Any time we have a higher opinion of ourselves than those around us, we are probably dealing with an issue of pride.  Sometimes we need a "pulse check" from another we trust to see how we are doing in this area.  The call is to lay down one's own agenda for the