These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him:

A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren.

Proverbs 6:  16-19

This excerpt really cuts to the chase. What things do God find abominable?  Of course, we all know he hates sin!  The things listed above are indeed sin.  Somtimes, we may not think of some of them as such.  However, these verses make it clear.  Let’s consider all seven.

1.     A Proud Look- This is described in the Amplified Bible as the spirit that makes one overestimate themselves and underestimate others. I’m sure we’ve all either been guilty of or a victim of this spirit.  I know I certainly have.  What immediately comes to mind is an assumption I had made years ago about a t.v. evangelist who didn’t sound quite the way I supposed he should have sounded and I thought to myself, “Oh, she’s smarter than he is”- (it was a husband and wife team).  I looked at the presentation of those on the broadcast and made a hasty judgement just because of my own pre-conceived notions.  I didn’t take time to listen to what was being said.  I had easily rated the level of intelligence between the two mates by how the Word was presented (What did intelligence have to do with it anyway? Talk about shallow!  Of course, I realize now that just because one person may be a bit more polished than another in their outward presentation means absolutely nothing!).   One seemed “country-fried” while the other seemed to be not so country but presented the word in a business suit and a more reserved manner (less expressive than her husband).  She was calm while he was fired up- fired up and spitting out that country boy accent and expressions!  It took only a second for me to come up with a hasty judgement.  I easily underestimated him.  A couple of years after that, I had the opportunity to watch the broadcast frequently.  Of course, I found out how wrong I was.  This man is truly wise.  I judged a book without taking time to read it.  I judged a book by my perception of  its cover.  I don’t recall doing that a whole lot in my life.  But, that time I did. 

Oh, Holy Spirit is so good!- I just recalled two other times! These involved two men of whom now I am extremely fond of, but of course, it didn’t start out that way.  Basically, I had underestimated each one based upon their behavior.  I had the opportunity to witness the behavior of one first hand, while the other’s behavior was only “legendary”.  Both turned out to be men I now admire and have great respect for, although they made lousy first and even, with one, second and third impressions.  The best of people can do some of the worst things and, on the otherhand, the worst of people can do some of the best things.  We’re human.  We’re flexible….We’re fallible….We can adapt…change…be transformed spiritually…be misled….fall flat on our faces and then get back up and do it all again…etc.  The point is never underestimate others or overestimate yourself and your views.  There is so much more to people than what we often realize. It’s a valuable lesson we should not easily forget.

2.     A Lying Tongue-  Oh, boy!  Of course, everyone knows lying is a sin!  However, have you ever heard anyone trying to justify their actions by saying,  “Oh, it was just a little white lie!”  You can paint it any color you would like but the truth of the matter is whether you think you told an itty bitty lie or a whopper of a tale, it’s all the same to God.  If you meant to deceive someone by your words or actions, that makes it a lie.  Deal with it and do better!

3.     Hands That Shed Innocent Blood-  This one seems to be pretty straight forward in the literal sense.  However, it also helps to think of it figuratively.  Have you ever ‘thrown someone under the bus’ so to speak?  Or should we say, made good use of a “ better him than me” attitude when it came to dealing with an issue where someone  or someone’s reputation had to suffer whether it was justified or not?  I’ve seen this happen in the workplace quite a bit.  Someone had to be the talk of the town whether it was known to be justified or not…  someone had to take the blame  whether or not  they had anything to do with the incident, someone had to pay the price even if they had nothing to do with the problem all because of another party’s selfishness, insecurity, lack of character,  jealousy, or spitefulness. Oh my, have I seen some innocent blood shed!

4.     A Heart That Manufactures Wicked Thoughts and Plans-  I’ve seen this one with my own eyes as well.  A particular person actually popped into my mind when I was meditating on this list of seven.  The person could be a poster child for six out of these seven.  I don’t say this lightly.  It’s not one or two or even a hand full of things that would qualify this person as the poster child.  I observed this person’s character, choices, scheming, plotting and planning, lying, and troublemaking etc. for years. This person had a heart for manufacturing evil- manipulation was usually a tool of choice.  They would plot constantly…sometimes for revenge, sometimes for leverage, sometimes to “keep people in their place”,  and sometimes, seemingly, just for amusement.  It really was a shame but quite eye-opening.

5.     Feet That Are Swift In Running to Evil– “Fight!” Remember the reaction this yell brought back in school whenever it was shouted at the top of someone’s lungs?  Usually, everyone took off running in order to see who was getting a beat down.  However, the wise one walked in the other direction.  That’s what we’re to do when the opportunity comes to participate in anything we know God would not be pleased with.  Can you picture someone who is always quick to run and hear the next juicy piece of gossip…. someone who is the first to always try and stir things up….someone who is quick to try to get in on whatever kind of bashing is going on?  These sorts seem to relish other’s misfortune and pain.  They seem to relish what God hates and are quick to pursue it.

6.     A False Witness Who Breathes Out Lies [Even Under Oath]-  What’s worse than someone who sees/knows the truth yet purposely proclaims falsehoods, in a court of law or otherwise?  The Lord hates it.

7.     He Who Sows Discord Among His Brethen–  God is big on unity among brethren.  He hates it when we fight amongst ouselves.  There is power in unity.  The one who plants strife amongst the body of Christ is indeed acting as an enemy to the whole body.  Ultimately, Satan is the sower of discord among the brethren.  However, we all need to look at what kind of seeds we are sowing through both our actions and our words. We should always strive to be used of God and not allow ourselves to be tools of the enemy.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               So, these are some of the things that elicit feelings of extreme disgust, hate, and loathing from our God.  That, alone, makes them characteristics we should fight hard against. One thing is for sure- we should not be content with any one of these traits abiding within us. When we begin to hate what God hates, we will begin to see a significant change in both our character and behavior.  Then, we will have more of an effect not only on our neighbor but the world.