Evil Corrupts // Proverbs 8:13

Were you ever taught that you aren’t supposed to hate? I know I was. So what do you make of what we read in Proverbs 8:13 where God instructs us, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance, the path of evil and corrupt speech” (CEB)? It comes down to corruption. Evil corrupts. It starts by creeping in just a little, then spreading. It causes us to start questioning our convictions and before we know it, we can’t discern what’s right or wrong. What makes it even more insidious is it often begins by seemingly trying to promote good. Weird, huh? But remember, it’s all about corrupting good in order to promote evil. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput wrote, “Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good.” Have you seen this exercised recently in our culture…”cancel culture” in particular? I know I have. So what are we to do? Don’t even entertain it. Like, at all. Proverbs 4:14-14 tells us, “Don’t go on the way of the wicked; don’t walk on the path of evil people. Avoid it! Don’t turn onto it; stay off of it and keep going!” Know where you are vulnerable and avoid it. Don’t think you can dabble here or there and be ok. The force of darkness will make it seem harmless at first, then start creeping and corrupting your spiritual sensibilities. Fear God and hate evil. Stay away from the areas where you are vulnerable. Keep walking the ways of God and trust His protection.