What sin does God hate the most?
I know that God hates all sin and understand that there are no “little sins” when it comes to being holy and set apart for Him. But I was asked this question recently during a vespers message: “What sin do you think God hates the most”.
Without attempting to get too theological or enter into some sort of etymological study, I can attest, as a lifetime student of the Bible, that “pride” is the sin that stands out the most. Each time you read a record of the things that God “hates” in the Bible, pride is at the top of the list. So it’s clear that there are things that God hates more than others.
The funny thing is that sins that Protestants (of which I am a pastor) frequently place greater scrutiny is not pride, which is disconcerting. It would appear that we. place greater disgust on sins having to do with sexual sin (pre-marital sex, homosexuality, extra-marital sex, and so on) as well as the sins of over drinking (or drinking alcohol in any form), or drug abuse, etc. And while I am not saying that all the sins we are opposed to as Protestants or Catholics don’t have merit, it’s obvious that God does find certain sins more odious: primarily pride, along with any form of dishonesty and killing. Those are the big ones, and pride is king.
Why? Because this sin, more than any other, elevates a person to think he/she is better than anyone else. C.S. Lewis once said that, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If someone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.” So in a sense, pride creates a hunger that is never satiated. That’s the reason or seed for most of the heartaches in history of mankind.
C.S. Lewis went on to say, “Of course, like Satan, when a being compares himself or herself to God, you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
Nothing is more hideous and destructive to our relationship with our Creator and His creations than pride. No vice is more dangerous in those that leader or in those we look for hope than pride. Perhaps we should all consider this when we choose our leaders this fall and as we direct our affections in relationships.
Pride Ad
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