One day I just so happened to look out the window to see a girl from my neighborhood walk down the street while simultaneously taking a selfie.
I honestly thought it looked a little interesting.
Seeing people walking and texting is pretty commonplace.
But seeing someone walking and taking a random selfie?
Well, not exactly commonplace if you ask me.
A Lesson From Proverbs
In Proverbs 8:13, it says:
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
(Proverbs 8:13)
What does that mean?
Well, here in this verse, it says that “the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.”
And right after that word “evil” is a colon.
Whether or not you’re into English punctuation, a colon indicates that–in the case of this verse we’re looking at–whatever is AFTER the colon is what is “evil.”
So, according to Proverbs 8:13 what is considered “evil”?
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way…..
(Proverbs 8:13 emphasis added)
So, what is considered to be “evil” is:
- Pride
- Arrogancy
Both of the words “pride” and “arrogancy” stem from the Hebrew root word gā’â (גָּאָה), which means “to rise up, be exalted.”
That sounds like a bit of a contrast to John 3:30, which says:
He must increase, but I must decrease.
(John 3:30)
So, a basic lesson of what we’ve just seen is that the very root of evil is not only the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10), but ultimately pride and arrogancy.
And pride and arrogancy is really exalting the will of self over the will of God.
Now, how in the world does this whole lesson connect with the little story I just shared with you in the beginning of this post?
“The Evil Way”
At the near end of Proverbs 8:13, we read about “the evil way.”
” ……………the evil way…………”
(Proverbs 8:13)
Since we’ve already learned that prideful, arrogant self-exaltation is the ultimate root of evil; then the “evil way” must mean the way of uplifting and exalting self and what self desires to do.
But what does “way” mean?
The Way We Walk
The Hebrew root word for “way” actually means “to walk.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 is what came to mind when I saw that definition.
For we walk by faith, not by sight:
(2 Corinthians 5:7)
Walk By Selfie Or Walk By Spirit?
For the girl I saw who was walking and taking a selfie, her focus was literally on herself as she was walking.
But for us as Christians, where is our focus as we walk though each living moment God gives us?
As the girl was walking and taking selfies, so what are we taking as we’re walking through our Christian journeys?
Are we taking our selfish wills and exalting them above the way God wants us to walk in?
Or, are we taking time to walk and seek after God’s Kingdom purposes for our lives?
Galatians 5:16 gives us a solid reminder of how essential this truth is.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
(Galatians 5:16)
A Prayer
Dear reader, would you like to recommit your life to walking more after the Holy Spirit’s ways for you rather than walking after the lusts of self?
If so, then I wanna encourage you to pray the following prayer below:
I wanna conclude this blog post with one of my favorite hymn medleys from my favorite Christian musician.
As you listen to it below, may your heart be touched to allow more of God’s will to be uplifted in your life more than your own will.
Amen! Maranatha!