In my previous blog post we took a look at why the belt of truth is the first piece of armor we should put on as we prepare to battle our enemy. Today, I want us to look at how God feels about being untruthful. Solomon was the second wisest man who ever lived (Jesus being the wisest). This is what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 6:16-19. “There are six things the Lord hates – no seven things he detests: haughty eyes; a lying tongue; hands that kill the innocent; a heart that plots evil; feet that race to do wrong; a false witness who pours out lies; and a person who sows discord in a family.”
God is love, so isn’t it a contradiction to say there are seven things that God hates? There are no contradictions in scripture, so how can that be? It’s simple! God loves us so much that He hates the things we do to harm others or ourselves. He loves us so much that when we repent of those hateful actions and turn from those ways, He forgives us by his mercy and grace. Simply put, God hates sin but loves sinners. Jesus makes that clear in all of His teachings and His every action. I thank God every day that He loved me before my actions were lovable and covered my sins with the precious blood Jesus shed on the cross in my place.
Back to that list in Proverbs; did you notice that out of the seven things God hates two of them involve lying? That should make it clear to us just how much God values the truth. So, the belt of truth not only protects us from the lies that originate with Satan, the Father of Lies; but you and I must also hold tightly to it when we speak, to make sure our words are always true and that we aren’t guilty of harming those God loves – including ourselves.
Satan knows our name but calls us by our sins. God knows our sins but calls us by our name. I remember seeing a drawing on Face Book several years ago of a man on his knees with his face buried in his hands while four or five religious zealots were beating him with their Bibles. I took offense at that depiction of “Evangelical Christians”, but it opened my eyes to the fact that Christians are often viewed as attacking the sinner instead of the sin. Listening to Satan call them by their sin, some people begin to identify so much with their sin that even just speaking the truth about the danger of their sin is seen as a personal attack. It isn’t enough just to speak the truth, I must speak it with kindness, love and empathy. As a Christian I must follow God’s lead calling them by their name, not by their sins. I must love them and pray that they accept Jesus, freeing them from their sins as I have been set free from mine. Instead of clubbing them with the truth, I need to show them there is hope for a better life through Jesus Christ.