Have you noticed that the theme of good and evil appears frequently throughout the Bible? Here are a few examples of passages drawn from the Old and the New Testament that speak directly to the issue of loving what is good and hating what is evil.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
(Isaiah 5:20 NKJV)
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9 NASB)
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
(Proverbs 8:13 NKJV)
For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears attend to their prayer,
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
(1 Peter 3:12 NASB)
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But He loves one who pursues righteousness.
(Proverbs 15:8-9 NASB)
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. (Romans 16:19 NASB)
Hate evil, you who love The Lord,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And gladness for the upright in heart.
Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
(Psalm 97:10-12 NASB)
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 NASB)
Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the LORD God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
It may be that the LORD God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
(Amos 5:14-15 NKJV)
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” (2 Timothy 2:19 NASB)
For,
“THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS,
MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL, AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.
HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD;
HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS,
AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER,
BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”
(1 Peter 3-10-12 NASB)
Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For it flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plans wickedness upon his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not despise evil.
(Psalm 36:1-4 NASB
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 NASB)
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless,
Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow.”
(Isaiah 1:16-17 NASB)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21 NASB)
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds of wickedness
With men who do iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.
(Psalm 141:4 NASB)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14 NASB)
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14 NASB)
Meditating upon passages such as these has played a major role in my fight against the love of evil. They remind me that I must hate what God hates. I must not think an evil thing is good. They remind me that I must love what is good. God is good and everything He does is good. I must love God and strive to do what is pleasing in His sight. I must be thankful for His good gifts. I must love others especially my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I must love them by using my time and abilities to serve my church and the Church at large, however, whenever, and wherever possible. This means I will probably have to give up many worldly pursuits even ones that are not sinful simply because I won’t have time for them.
(Want more? The “Hate Evil, Love Good” folder in the Prayer Prompter app contains 78 Scripture passages that speak to the subject of living a life that hates evil and loves good, a life that shuns evil and does good.)
