The God we serve is loving, but there are certain things He hates. We have already noted from Proverbs 16:17 that God hates the look of pride on our faces (see the previous article here). It probably makes us uncomfortable to talk about the things that God hates because we always find ourselves being guilty of those very things. Nevertheless, it is refreshing to remind ourselves of the things God disdains. When we do this, it can serve as a warning for us to correct individual attitudes and actions in our own lives so that we can remove those things God hates. We’ve got a lot of work todo… I’ve got a lot of work to do. But I digress; what else does God hate according to Proverbs 16:16-19?

Number Two: God hates a lying tongue

God hates it when someone tricks another person or themselves into believing something that is not true. Our world culture around us now will try to convince you that you can not know what is true and what is false. Satan attempts to deceive us by saying that what is true for you is not necessarily true for everyone. That is a colossal lie. Truth can be known, and the truth is constant. Lies deceive and lead people astray. 

But the question remains, why do we lie? Where do we learn that terrible habit? Kids seem to pick up it up early in life, and if we are not careful, it can become a way of life. Adults get even craftier and more deceitful in their lies. Notice that this passage in Proverbs tells us that God hates the tongue from which the lies protrude. 

In John 8, Jesus caught some Jews in a lie when they said they had “never yet been enslaved to anyone.” Jesus had just told them that they will “know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” This was when they made the proclamation that they had never been enslaved. Jesus explains that anyone who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). He goes on to tell them, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). 

Humans are so warped in our own understanding of truth we mistake lies for truth all the time. Don’t believe me? Scroll social media and do some fact-checking before you hit share. Too often, we share something that is not true without checking the facts. We become the agent of more lies, and God hates lies. If we always seek to speak (or share) the truth, then we don’t have to keep up with what we have told one person and/or what we have told another person. This protects us and sets us up to be able to share the gospel truth with so much more success. Why would anyone believe us about the gospel truth if we are known for spreading lies about other things in our lives? God loves mouths of truth but hates tongues of lies. 

So what is the application for us? What can we do today to do better? Always stand for the truth and always tell the truth because God hates a lying tongue. 

More to come…

I love you, 

Alexander