(Monroe sunset, from our church parking lot. 12/3/20)
God is love.
In his essence. God is love.
Which means, God cannot not-love.
All God's acts and emotions and choices are to be interpreted through the lens of the love of God.
Even God's hatred is loving. For it is a great thing to hate what is evil. To not hate what is evil is to be unloving.
For example, Linda and I know of a child who was raped, several times, by a relative. I hated that. In my hatred, I did not sin. But I hated the relative's sin, and what it did (and still is doing) to that child.
Love hates what is evil.
Here are some examples of God's loving hatred of evil, from Proverbs chapter 6. (From The Passion translation.)
- Putting others down while considering yourself superior.
- Spreading lies and rumors.
- Spilling the blood of the innocent.
- Plotting evil in your heart toward another.
- Gloating over doing what’s plainly wrong.
- Spouting lies in false testimony.
- Stirring up strife between friends.
Here are 7 things God hates, 7 things that are despicable to God. (Prov. 6:16; 19)
What sense does love make if love does not hate evil?
