Proverbs 8:13 (KJV): “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.”

There once was a time when society in general had a fear of the Lord. However, the further and further the culture of the world strays from a consciousness of God, the more perverse and abundant evil becomes. It seems every day there are reports of open brutality and gross injustice done in places that were previously known as safe. It is as if people are numb to any consequence concerning their wickedness, even though they are piling up for themselves the wrath of God, and eternal separation from His presence. Without a standard of right and wrong, evil will escalate without restraint. There will never be enough laws or law enforcement to contain it. If we, as individuals, do not hate evil - we do not have a fear of God. In the book of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego honored God more than the rule of the land. They were unafraid, and unashamed to stand up to the king’s decree, and refuse to bow down to his golden image. Even when the entire kingdom did what was evil, and the consequence of standing for righteousness was sudden death - their fear of the Lord compelled them to remain steadfast. As a result, after they were thrown into the fiery furnace, and God miraculously saved them before the entire kingdom, the fear of God came over the whole land. What’s most intriguing for me, is the fact that they had decided, that even if God chose to not save them from the fire - they would still stand by their conviction to honour Him.  We need to come to a place where we love the Lord so much, that we aren’t moved to fear when a situation calls us to stand for what is right. When people all around you openly practice and push for something that contradicts the will of God, by trying to make what He has called an abomination seem justifiable and even popular, are you going to keep quiet and go along with the flow? Or are you going to unashamedly make a stand for righteousness? If you love God, you will hate evil, and your fear of the Lord will be seen as a standard raised against it.