“Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalms 97:10)
Who are the ones who love the Lord? Every Christian, every person who goes to church and every person who believes in God would say that they love the Lord. But the Word of God is specific. “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. And God showed His love for us by sending His only Son into the world, so that we might have life through Him. This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and His love is made perfect in us.” (1John 4:7-12) That’s wonderful, but we still need further clarification of what love is. God’s Word does not leave us without an answer. “Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass.” (1Corinthians 13:4-8)
Specifically, we show that we love God by how we treat others. We show the God kind of love to others. We show others the love Jesus showed us. The Word of 1 Corinthians is very specific. We cannot say we love God if we can’t even demonstrate the God kind of love, the love that Jesus showed us, and the love specifically detailed in 1 Corinthians to others. Those who have surrendered their “self” to the Lord have the ability to love like this because in surrendering the “self” to the Lord, they have yielded to the Holy Spirit Who gives that supernatural ability to love others, to love the unlovable, to love with the God kind of love and to love with the love Jesus loved us. These are the one who love the LORD.
There is a commandment given to those who love the LORD; hate evil. Paul in his letter to the Romans also gives that command. “Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) Hate is a strong word. It means to intensely and passionately dislike it. It starts with hating the sin in your life. Paul had this experience. It’s part of the process of becoming more like Jesus our Lord. We all have those sins lurking in us. We are not even aware of them. But as we grow in our relationship with the Lord, He will expose them, one by one and make us aware that there are things in our heart that we must abandon. When it’s exposed, our spirit should be so repulsed that we rid ourselves of this thing that will now affect our relationship with the Lord if we continue to hide it, from ourselves, from others and eventually from God. David said this in psalms. “Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. Happy is the one whom the LORD does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit. When I did not confess my sins, I was worn out from crying all day long. Day and night You punished me, LORD; my strength was completely drained, as moisture is dried up by the summer heat. Then I confessed my sins to You; I did not conceal my wrongdoings. I decided to confess them to You, and You forgave all my sins.” (Psalms 32:1-5) We must allow the Holy Spirit to help us. That is the only way to grow. If we don’t, like David, we will suffer emotionally and spiritually.
We see that in order to truly love the Lord, we must demonstrate God’s love to others and hate evil by acknowledging our sin when it’s exposed and confessing it to the Lord, allowing the Holy Spirit to supernaturally, intensely and passionately rid us of it. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)
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