Our relationship with God of
necessity must manifest itself in characters that are consistent with that bond.
God expects us to show traits such as humility, truthfulness, placidity,
faithfulness, honesty, integrity, and etc. Hence, in Proverbs 6:16-19, the
teacher warned us against seven evil qualities that the Lord abhors. The author
calls them abominations. A close scrutiny will tell us that this list of seven behaviors
is not exhaustive. However, these behaviors are unquestionably offensive to the Lord.
The first is haughty eyes. This is
the sin of pride which is at the centre of all disobedience and rebelliousness.
It’s an attitude that defies the moral law God had given for us to live a life
of integrity. The Lord absolutely hates it.
The second thing God dislikes is a
lying tongue. Simply defined, this is the practise of speaking falsehood and lies.
Our God is the God of truth and lying is repulsive to Him. When a person lies,
he or she wilfully perverse truth with malicious intention. Lies are spoken to
deceive and the deception may not just come in the form of things we say, but
also impressions we give. We need to be careful what impressions we are
portraying.
The third thing God detests is
violence, a hand that shed innocent blood. While the Old Testament Law sanctioned
death sentence for some offences, the Bible says God loathes the shedding of
blood of the innocence. God is fair and just, he will not allow the innocent to
be unjustly treated.
The fourth thing the Lord despises
is a heart that schemes evil. People who are all the time devising iniquities
in their heart. Their minds are incessantly filled with evil thoughts. Then out
of their hearts wicked acts will be initiated. Regarding this, bear in mind that
God is all knowing and He knows the secrets of our hearts. Nothing that we
think about escapes God’s attention.
The fifth thing God intensely dislikes
is feet that run rapidly to evil. To slip into wrong unconsciously once in a
while, can be tolerated. But to run rapidly into one, suggests to us a sense of
eagerness to do what’s wrong. God not only hates evil he hates the
implementation of it.
The sixth thing God cannot stand is
perjury, bearing of false witness. A person carries out perjury usually is to
extricate himself from guilt or to ruin the life of an innocent person. In
perjury we destroy any sense of justice and cause a person to be wrongly
judged. God will defend the innocent because justice ought to be the foundation
of a spiritual community.
Finally, God abhors those who are
divisive. These are people who will continually sow discord among family,
friends or associates. Such people always destroy harmony and unity within a
family, a circle of friends or a community of believers. This brings disruption
to peaceful relationship. The call of God is for brethren to dwell in unity so
that God can command His blessings upon us and give us true life. Remember God
frowns on those who would disrupt brotherly affection.
Godly living demands that we live
truthfully, sincerely and honestly. Every godly habit we demonstrate in life is
an act of worship to God. We can spread the fragrance of His name by how we
behave. Thus, we must be careful how we behave. We are salt of the earth so let
us be the preservative we ought to be. We are light of the world, so let our behaviour
be worthy of emulation.
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