“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” Proverbs 6:16–19 NIV.

The word hate is a very strong word; so is the word detestable.  But there are some things that God actually hates, things that are detestable to Him.  And this passage lists seven such things that are detestable to God: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissention.

What I notice about that list is that, of those seven things, three affect our tongues: a lying tongue, a false witness, and a man who stirs up dissension.  How we need to guard our tongues!  How we need to beware that we do not with our tongues produce something that is detestable to God!

How many religious people there are who somehow or other stir up dissension among their fellow believers by the words they speak.  Do we realize that this is detestable to God?  Are we prepared to let God put a bridle on our tongue to keep us from things that are detestable to Him?

—Derek Prince

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Materials used by kind permission of Derek Prince Ministries.