Love vs. Hate
Two words in my opinion that have been watered down and emptied of their true meaning. While reading Micah this morning I was reminded of how much God hates sin. I think in today's society God Himself has been somewhat watered down, we like to think of God as gentle and kind-and the actuality of his hatred for sin is therefore somewhat misconstrued. So...how do we come to understand this God that hates sin so much yet loves us unconditionally. Can God truly hate? I think we should start at the beginning, we are created in the image of God right? If we are able to feel both these emotions (and sometimes at the same time and/or towards the same person or situation) then God too  has both the ability to love and hate. Throughout scripture one reoccurring theme stands true, God HATES sin. God is Holy, if He did not hate sin then He would not be Holy.  Sometimes we forget that God is so much more than just capable of LOVE, God IS love (John 4:8)! With this it brings on a holy system of judgement.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Familiar scripture, right? God revealed something to me as I read it this morning...God's love for the sinners of the world was revealed before the lost became believers. Another familiar scripture reads “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Here again we see that God's love for us is not a result of our belief in Him but rather a true unconditional love. We can not do anything that would make God stop loving us. That is refreshing to this sinner.

Application: The first step in true confession is admitting the things in your life are truly sin...this for me is difficult. I find myself overlooking the small things, thinking that God wants me to only reveal the really big sin. But sin is sin in God's eyes (anything that takes us away from God). So today as I embark on a new day I plan on admitting my sin before the Lord and then turning away from it.

It is never to late...no matter where you are or what you have done remember that God sent His Son while we were still sinners.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
All we have to do is accept the gift of salvation and we become a new creation in Christ.