What Does God Hate?

Does God hate what brings us to sin as much as the sin itself?

The Scriptures seem to indicate that God does not just view murder as wrong, but the hatred that leads to murder is equally wrong. Sexual sins are wrong, but the thought of sexual sins, lust, is equally wrong. Being greedy is wrong, but coveting is equally wrong.

Gluttony is condemned, but what is it that leads to gluttony? Drunkenness is a sin, but what is it that leads to drunkenness? Laziness is a sin, but what is it that leads to laziness?

Could it be that under the banner of freedom and our fear of legalism, we often condemn the sin but ignore what brought us to the sin, when if we eradicated what brought us to sin, we would not be in sin? Could it be that we are concerned about the wrong end of this problem, and are more like modern -ay Pharisees than we would like to admit?

Perhaps we need to adjust the end of the problem we are addressing. Perhaps we need to adjust the path in order to change the ultimate destination.

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