We see it or hear about it all the time. A fifteen-year-old committing suicide after being bullied for years. A 24-week-old baby in the womb, with almost a completely formed face, being aborted. The mother of that baby being beaten by an abusive boyfriend. The babies that grow up to be kindergarteners, fourth graders, college students, and teachers, being locked into a dark classroom huddled in a corner as a shooter attacks the school. The very ones that protect us, being attacked by their own. The victims of rape. The victims of terrorism. The victims of this world. Our hearts hurt for them. Regardless of what generation, everyone on this Earth has had an opportunity to see the destruction and devastation that evil brings. And for most, we genuinely let these things touch our hearts. We may stop our worlds for a moment to mourn for and with them, we may pray for these issues or groups of people occasionally, or we may support them in thought. But when Jesus hated something, he fought. He fought the sting of death, the fire of Hell, and won. Do we fight for the ways of Jesus whole-heartedly? If you’re anything like me, you’re undeniably guilty of watching suffering, hurt, pain, and agony, and moving about you day as though you see none of it.
Psalm 97:10 starts off by saying “Let those who love the Lord hate evil.” Hate is often defined as a passionate feeling of extreme aversion. We tend to use that word loosely anymore. I "hate" doing my homework. I “hate” walking through one of the windiest campuses in the United States. I “hate” when the driver in front of me doesn’t at least go 5 mph over the speed limit. But when God hated something, He sent Jesus, His son, to the cross for it, because He loved us so much. So, I think we are missing God’s miraculous and perfect example that He displayed to us of what are response to true hatred should look like. God loves us, and he hated sin that was separating us from Him, so He did something. He sent Jesus to the cross. God loves. He hated. And He did something. This creates a fire in my soul to love people like Jesus, hate what God hates, and do something. As we strive as Christians to look more like Jesus, we should let the motivation of what He did on the cross pour into every aspect of our lives. The cross should motivate us to do more than scroll past the article on Facebook. The cross should motivate us to use the gifts He has given eat of us to pour out our love to others. Jesus poured out His blood for brokenness. What would life look like if every Christian in the world let our hearts be so broken for sin and hurt that we did something? The truth is, to be a Christian we don’t have to earn “good-standing” with Jesus by taking action steps toward these issues. If you trust in the Lord with everything and declare Him Lord and Savior, you are His. So, in all reality, we don’t have to do anything about these issues to be children of the King. But looking more like Jesus means sitting under the waterfall of his wisdom and taking up your own cross for the Kingdom. As Psalm 97:10 says, "I want to HATE evil." And I have no doubt in my mind that the Creator of the Universe will do unthinkable things through those that hate evil, even just a fraction of how he hates it.
