Contemplative Bible Reading

Proverbs 6a, 13 (New Living Translation)

Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you.

All who fear the Lord will hate evil.
Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance,
corruption and perverse speech.

I hate negative preaching (that doesn’t make sense, but let’s go on). Nevertheless, there are times when I need to hear what the LORD hates. This is plain speech here, “Listen to me!”

Four things God hates:

1. pride
2. arrogance
3. corruption
4. perverse speech

Okay, we can accept number 3 as that is actually illegal, but the other three, well, maybe they are not nice and sort of defects of character, but really, God HATES these? It sure seems that way, and God calls these important things, not just minor character defects.

Listen to God. That is for me to do. Note what God hates. That is for me to do. Pray for strength and forgiveness. That is for me to do. Accept the grace of God with thanks and humility. It goes on, and yes, these are things for me to attempt to do with the help of God.