Abhor Evil, Cleave to Good

Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.


Dict. Def-- Dissimulation-- To disguise (one's intentions, for example) under a feigned appearance. To conceal one's true feelings or intentions.
Dict. Def-- Abhor-- To regard with horror or loathing; abominate. To reject vehemently; shun
Dict. Def-- Cleave to-- Cohere: stick to, cleave to, come off on, rub off on


Let love be without disguise, without concealing, without feigning- love that is true and real isn't disguised, concealed, or feigned.
Reject vehemently, regard with horror, regard with loathing that which is evil. Stick to that which is good.


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Do we really abhor evil? First of all what do we consider evil? Let's look at the dictionary definition of evil--


vil (ê´vel) adjective
eviler, evilest
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant. See synonyms at bad1.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.

noun
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.


Morally bad or wrong- who decides what is morally bad? God has His own moral standards doesn't He? Look at the Ten Commandments these are the moral laws of God. That which is against God's moral laws is evil.


Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ((((Having other Gods before God is evil)))


Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. ((((Making graven images to bow down to and serve is evil.)))


Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. ((((Taking the name of the LORD thy God in vain is evil.)))


Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (((( Not keeping the Sabbath is evil.)))


Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. ((((Not honoring your father and mother is evil.)))


Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. ((((Killing is evil)))


Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. ((((Committing adultery is evil)))


Exo 20:15 Thou shalt not steal. ((((Stealing is evil.)))


Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. ((((Lying about someone is evil.)))


Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. ((((Coveting other's things is evil.)))


And Jesus summed up these ten laws into two knowing that the two embraced them all--


Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. ((((Not loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind is evil.)))


Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ((((Not loving our neighbors as ourselves is evil.)))
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


Abhoring evil would mean hating anything that would keep us from loving God first and foremost.
Abhoring evil would mean hating anything that would keep us from loving our neighbors.


We are to cleave to that which is good, the good being the opposite of evil.


We need to ask ourselves what keeps us from loving God first and foremost, as well as ask ourselves what keeps us from loving our fellow human beings as we should. Can you think of anything that keeps you from putting God first in your life? Can you think of anything that keeps you from loving your fellow man? Seriously, we need to take stock of things in our lives don't we? A lot of time there are outside forces that influence our behavior. We blame our behavior on the weather, on other people and their actions, we blame our responses on situations and make excuses for ourselves time and again for why we aren't as loving towards God and others as we should be. We turn our thoughts so completely inward on ourselves nothing else seems to matter except for how we feel at any given moment and our world revolves around our own feelings. There are web groups like Myspace and Facebook as well as others and they want us to express how we feel at any moment in time. Soandso is happy- insert smile face here. Soandso is angry- insert angry smilie here. They have numerous expressions to indicate how you might feel at any moment and this all turns our thoughts inward on ourselves. How we feel has become increasingly important, self has become increasingly important. Self-help, self-actualization, self-exploration, so much is about self. We are so busy self noting that we've forgotten what it means to be self-less in any way, shape, or form. Putting God and others first before ourselves is what it's all about. Jesus stripped Himself of His immortal Spirit and took on humanity's mortality. Jesus' stripped Himself of His Self and came to earth devoting His entire life to the saving of humanity. Every action He took was self-less. When we are called by Jesus to believe in Him to follow Him we are called to take up His cross.


Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.


If you choose to follow Jesus you choose to DENY YOURSELF. If you choose to follow Jesus you choose to take up a cross. What cross are you taking up but the same one that Jesus took up- living His entire life for the salvation of others. While salvation isn't ours to give to anyone pointing the way to salvation is ours to give. Salvation is found solely in Christ and out of love for Christ we choose to deny ourselves and take up the cross.


We who have so much have that much more trouble denying ourselves. We who have been taught to indulge self by the society we live in won't find denying self easy at all. Setting self aside is something that seems impossible and it's something that we can do only through the grace of Jesus, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.


May God help us all as we learn to abhor evil- hating anything that would keep us from loving God and our fellow man. May we learn to deny self and take up our cross so that it will be possible. With selfishness out of the way we are free to truly love. By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior now and forever.


Amen.