Writer Anne Lamott said, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Lamott’s words are an insightful and comical take on the fact that God doesn’t come around to our way of thinking, but rather—we come around to His. Let me explain what I mean by that. As we grow in our relationship with God, we start to love the same things He loves and hate the same thing He hates. Things that grieve the heart of God will grieve us. Things like poverty, abuse, and injustice begin to impact us in ways they didn’t before. We’ll start looking at the world around us through the lens of the gospel, and some days we’ll be delighted, and other days our hearts will break. When this happens, it’s a sign of spiritual growth. It’s also a sign of wisdom. According to Scripture, those who have the mind of Christ begin to view evil the same way God does (1 Cor. 2:15-16). In Proverbs 8, Solomon wrote:
“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate” (Prov. 8:12-13).
According to Solomon, God hates evil, pride, arrogance, and perverted speech. Wise people attempt to avoid any behavior that God finds offensive. Who in their right mind wants to hold onto behavior that offends God? In the book of Proverbs, one of the primary purposes of the “fear of the LORD’ is to align our hearts with what God loves. As we grow in wisdom and learn what is offensive to God, we can examine our hearts and habits and ask God to help us deal with behavior He finds offensive and learn to embrace what He loves.
One of the advantages of wisdom is it teaches us what to embrace and what to avoid. Wisdom doesn’t come solo—it brings along various other virtues such as prudence, knowledge, and discretion (Prov. 8:12). Although wisdom is for everyone, those who receive the benefits of wisdom are those who love and seek her. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me” (Prov. 8:17). I’ll leave you with a couple of things to think about.
Thoughts to Ponder
- Do you find yourself grieved over things that grieve the heart of God?
- Do you love what God loves and hate what He hates?
- Can you name any specific things you try to avoid because those things are offensive to God?
