The Hatred of God?
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
- Proverbs 6:16-19
Perhaps sometimes our hatred is justified. I read this verse in a Sojourner’s email the other day and the quote that came with it spoke volumes to me about our call to live like Christ. Joan Chittister said “Anger is not bad. Anger can be a very positive thing, the thing that moves us beyond the acceptance of evil.” Wha?! Then I thought about it… There are a lot of sins we have been desensitized to.. I am going to have to disagree with my husband on his protest of the concept “Love the sinner hate the sin.” The problem with that phrase is that people don’t want to think about it and they want to throw out condemnations about the sins that shun the person. It doesn’t have to be interpreted that way. But in reality many of us as Christians have continuously been exposed to these “abominations” as Solomon writes.
That new show TV show on Fox, Lie to Me, while not a stellar concept, purports that a human lies every ten minutes. And how many innocent lives are shed because of injustice in war? How many of us have ever sown discord in our family? Oh, my, no not me! How many of us burn with a hatred, or even displeased heart, with all of these things? Unfortunately I know that I don’t always feel this way. Perhaps some of them have even played into my “Christ following life.”
Learning to live like Jesus not only says that ”if we love him, we will obey him,” but it also gives a certain justification to some negative emotions that we should have towards sin. This is no senseless battle, this is a real war that has been waged on our morality and our “differentness” that will show that grace and love of God. We aren’t salt of the earth if we’re lying every ten minutes and singing his praises in the eleventh hour. Being salt of the earth doesn’t just mean we believe, it means we spice it up, we are able to make a noticeable difference. I watch a lot of cooking shows and one of the main complaints of judges or chefs is too bland, not enough salt. What are we doing to ourselves??
Okay, I am just working this out…. more later… share your thoughts if you would like. 
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Well, Mrs. Andrea, I think one of the big issues (somewhat off topic, but basically a cousin of this post) is that we as Christians are confused about guilt and shame. Social work teaches that both of these are bad. I agree that shame is bad, especially for believers. I wabble back and forth as to whether grace is wrong for believers. But the other day I was realizing that guilt is wrong for believers- and of the enemy in my opinion – but conviction is appropriate and necessary and right. Therefore, we as believers must be fosterers of the Spirit who is the ONLY one can bring conviction, and be mindful that as we as believers encourage others to die to their old selves, that we point them to the Spirit instead of offering intentional and/or unintentional grace and shame.
I also think that it makes a big difference to focus on loving holiness instead of hating sin. It might be opposite sides to the same coin, but I think the holiness side is a little brighter.
I agree that focusing on holiness and acting like Christ is a must. But even Christ never had to deal with his own sin, because he was holy, so we never get THAT reaction in the Bible.
I think the big thing is desensitization to what we are doing and saying in our own lives. I look at my younger sisters, and things that were issues to me at 20 are issues to them at 17. Again, it is that exposure aspect. If we do not guard ourselves everything ends up being okay. I am not talking about judging others or abstaining from grace, nor an ommitance of that leading of the Holy Spirit that I believe many have come to ignore or not be lead by, but an understanding of sin that would spark an emotion of self-realization that might put us on our knees asking for the H.S. to intervene in our lives.