We like to think about God as this wonderful teddy bear who loves everything. But is that true? Does God love everything, or are there some things God hates?
In several places in the Bible, God says what He hates.
- God hates idols (Deuteronomy 16:22).
- God hates wickedness (Psalm 45:7).
- God hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6).
But the more complete list of what God hates is found in Proverbs 6:16-19:
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV)
Note that everything God hates is an act of sin. God loves the person but hates the sin. Do you have ‘sinners’ like this in your organization?
Let’s look at these seven things God hates one at a time:
1) Haughty Eyes
God hates the pride in a person because prideful people have a high view of themselves, which is easy because they look down on everyone else.
Lesson for Us. Beware the prideful people in our organizations. Pride caused Lucifer to fall and was at the root of the first sin in the Garden of Eden. Furthermore, prideful people tend to do several other things God hates.
2) A Lying Tongue
God hates lies because people who lie cannot be trusted. They are quite happy distorting or disregarding the truth altogether.
Lesson for Us. Liars are most often trying to protect themselves from their mistakes or to take someone else down. Either way, they are a danger to your organization.
3) Hands that shed innocent blood
God hates injustice in the form of taking an innocent life or even acts of violence against an innocent person.
Lesson for Us. Obviously, we don’t want murderers in our organizations, but the idea of shedding innocent blood includes acts of workplace violence.
4) A Heart that devises wicked schemes
God hates the devious schemes of those who plot against others.
Lesson for Us. Schemers that plot evil against others have no place in our organizations. At the least, they destroy morale; at worst, they destroy the organization.
5) Feet that are quick to rush into evil
God hates the desires that cause some to fulfill their fleshly desires to harm others.
Lesson for Us. Some people rush into trouble. They relish the opportunity to bring harm to others.
6) A false witness who pours out lies
God hates false testimony. The Hebrew word for ‘false’ here is the same word used previously for ‘lying.’ These people manufacture completely false stories about others. The idea of testimony conjures up the image of a courtroom, which is certainly correct, but the term used here is broader and includes any false testimony against someone else.
Lesson for Us. How many corporations have been brought down by someone who provided false information to the board, company auditors, or federal investigators? You don’t need anyone who falsifies information or reports at any level in your organization.
7) A man who stirs up dissension among brothers
God hates dissension and discord. It was Satan’s rebellion that created division in God’s kingdom.
Lesson for Us. Some people love to get into the middle of issues; it doesn’t matter what, splitting people apart. They are like arsonists who light a fire and then stand in the crowd to watch the fire burn.
Haman, a Biblical Example of the Sins God Hates
If you would like to study a Biblical example of the sins God hates, read the story of Esther and Mordecai in the book of Esther and pay attention to Haman.
- Haman was puffed up and full of pride, especially after he got promoted.
- Haman lied about the Jews as a people to the king in order to get back at one man.
- Haman planned to annihilate the entire Jewish population of Persia; men, women, and children.
- Haman’s schemed against the Jews and convinced the king his kingdom was at risk.
- Haman was so furious with Mordecai that he hatched a plan to have gallows built overnight so that Mordecai could be hanged the next day.
- Haman lied to the king and the people making up completely false stories about Mordecai and the Jewish people.
- Haman’s lies and falsehood divided the people in such a way that the entire nation was permitted to kill and plunder any Jews they found throughout the nation.
You probably (hopefully) don’t have any Hamans in your organization. You probably don’t have those who would shed innocent blood, but given the amount of workplace violence, you can’t assume you don’t.
Aside from a pretty low likelihood that a murderer is in the office next to you, there are absolutely, positively people in your organization who are prideful, lie, scheme, dive into trouble, report falsehoods, and generally stir up trouble and strife in the organization.
That is the sad fact of the fallen human condition. All have fallen short of the glory of God! Everyone probably commits one or more of these sins at some time or another. If you tried to clean house, there wouldn’t be anyone left to run the organization.
Your task as a leader is to weed out the habitual offenders while being an example of what God loves (see the Beatitudes in Matthew 5).
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. For example, have you dealt with people who display attributes God hates in your organization? What was the impact on the organization?
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Category: Personal Development | Values
Ron- I love the arsonist analogy for those who stir up dissension. I’ve had to deal with such people. They spread negativity and dissension and like to watch the place burn. My fire extinguisher approach was to call them on it, expose the lies and hold them accountable. Dealing with such people can be exhausting!
John,
So true – negative people can adversely affect an entire organization and dealing with them can be one of the great challenges of leadership! Good for you for exposing them and holding them accountable!