🕊️ PRAY HERE Devotion 🕊️ “God Cares About How We Treat People“

Scripture: Proverbs 6:16–19 KJV

16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Devotion :

Have you ever met someone who talks about how much they love God, but treats people terribly? 🥺

They pray.

They attend church.

They post Scriptures.

They talk about how blessed and highly favored they are.

But when it comes to how they treat other people...

LORD HAVE MERCY! 🤦🏽‍♀️

They're mean.

They're dishonest.

They're selfish.

They're intentionally hurtful.

They cause trouble between people.

And sometimes they don't even seem to care about the pain they cause.

Whewww! 😮‍💨

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. GOD CARES ABOUT HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE!

We cannot separate our relationship with God from the way we treat His creation.

You cannot claim to love God while continually mistreating people and refusing to acknowledge that something is wrong with your behavior.

And before somebody says:

"Well, God knows my heart!"

Yes, He does!

AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED! 👀

Because God doesn't just see what we do.

HE KNOWS WHY WE DO IT.

He sees the jealousy.

The bitterness.

The pride.

The resentment.

The hatred.

The selfish intentions.

The desire to hurt somebody because they hurt us.

And He knows when we're deliberately trying to cause trouble.

Let's read today's Scripture together.

Proverbs 6:16–19 tells us there are SIX THINGS THE LORD HATES, AND SEVEN THAT ARE AN ABOMINATION TO HIM.

My, my, my! 🥺

Now pay close attention.

God isn't listing things that make us unsuccessful, unpopular, or uncomfortable.

HE IS TELLING US WHAT HE HATES!

And look at how many of these things involve HOW WE TREAT OTHER PEOPLE.

Let's break them down.

1. A PROUD LOOK

Pride makes people think they're better than everybody else.

They look down on others.

They believe they're always right.

They refuse correction.

They treat people as though their feelings and opinions don't matter.

And sometimes pride is why people refuse to apologize.

"I'm not apologizing to THEM!"

Why not?

Because you think admitting you were wrong makes you less important?

HUMILITY IS NOT WEAKNESS.

God doesn't want us walking around treating people like we're above them.

2. A LYING TONGUE

Now this one! 👀

Some people lie so easily that it doesn't even bother them anymore.

They lie to get ahead.

Lie to protect their image.

Lie to avoid accountability.

And sometimes they lie specifically to make somebody else look bad.

Imagine somebody at work deliberately telling the manager something false about a coworker because they want that person's position.

Now an innocent person is being questioned, embarrassed, or possibly losing an opportunity.

And the person who started it goes home feeling accomplished.

GOD SEES THAT.

Just because your lie worked doesn't mean God approved of it.

3. HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD

This is serious.

God hates the shedding of innocent blood.

And look at the world we're living in.

People are losing their lives over arguments.

Jealousy.

Revenge.

Disrespect.

Things that could have been handled completely differently.

A HUMAN LIFE IS NOT WORTH THROWING AWAY BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T CONTROL YOUR ANGER.

🥺🙏🏽

4. A HEART THAT DEVISES WICKED PLANS

Whewww!

This is when somebody doesn't just accidentally hurt another person.

THEY PLAN IT.

They sit around thinking about how to embarrass somebody.

How to ruin their reputation.

How to get them fired.

How to break up their relationship.

How to make other people dislike them.

And sometimes they even recruit other people to help.

My, my, my!

YOU ARE PLANNING SOMEBODY ELSE'S PAIN AND EXPECTING GOD TO BLESS YOUR PLANS?

👀

That's a dangerous way to live.

5. FEET THAT ARE QUICK TO RUSH INTO EVIL

Some people don't even hesitate when an opportunity to do wrong presents itself.

They're ready!

Ready to fight.

Ready to retaliate.

Ready to participate in gossip.

Ready to help somebody carry out something harmful.

But when an opportunity comes to make peace, apologize, or do something good...

NOW THEY NEED TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT! 🤦🏽‍♀️😂

WE SHOULD BE QUICK TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, NOT QUICK TO DO WHAT IS WRONG.

6. A FALSE WITNESS WHO POURS OUT LIES

Notice that lying is mentioned again.

This time, the focus is on giving false testimony about somebody else.

Imagine being accused of something you never did.

People believe the accusation.

Your reputation is damaged.

Your family is affected.

And the person responsible knows the truth but refuses to correct the lie.

THAT IS EVIL.

God cares about truth.

He cares about justice.

And He cares about the innocent people being harmed by dishonesty.

7. A PERSON WHO STIRS UP CONFLICT AMONG OTHERS

OOOOOOEW WEEEEE! 😮‍💨

This one is happening EVERYWHERE!

In families.

In churches.

On jobs.

On social media.

People deliberately turning others against one another.

"Let me tell you what she said about you."

"Don't tell anybody I told you this, but..."

"I just thought you should know."

And sometimes the person carrying the message is the very person keeping the trouble going!

They tell one person one thing.

Tell somebody else something different.

Then stand back and watch everybody argue.

GOD HATES SOWING DISCORD!

And we need to stop pretending that gossip, division, and stirring up trouble are harmless.

They destroy relationships.

They divide families.

They damage churches.

They break trust.

And sometimes people spend YEARS not speaking because somebody planted something evil between them.

🥺

NOW LET'S BRING ALL SEVEN THINGS TOGETHER.

Did you notice something?

Pride.

Lying.

Violence.

Wicked plans.

Running toward evil.

False accusations.

Creating division.

THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT CAN HURT OTHER PEOPLE!

God is showing us that our behavior toward one another matters deeply to Him.

And we cannot excuse these things simply because somebody made us angry.

"But they hurt me first!"

"But they disrespected me!"

"But they deserved it!"

No!

SOMEBODY ELSE'S WRONG DOES NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO DO WHAT GOD HATES.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

You don't get a special exemption from God's instructions because you're offended.

You don't get permission to lie because somebody lied to you.

You don't get permission to destroy somebody's reputation because they hurt your feelings.

You don't get permission to sow discord because you don't like somebody.

GOD'S WORD STILL APPLIES TO YOU!

And let me say something else.

Sometimes we are so busy looking at how other people mistreat us that we never stop to examine HOW WE ARE TREATING THEM.

We remember every wrong somebody did to us.

But somehow forget the things we've said and done to other people.

Whewww! 🥺

WE ALL NEED TO EXAMINE OURSELVES.

Jesus taught us in Matthew 22:39:

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

And 1 John 4:20 challenges anyone who claims to love God while hating a brother or sister.

Our love for God should be reflected in how we treat people.

That doesn't mean allowing people to abuse or mistreat you.

You can establish boundaries.

You can distance yourself from harmful behavior.

You can speak the truth.

You can hold people accountable.

BUT YOU CAN DO ALL OF THAT WITHOUT BECOMING EVIL YOURSELF.

🙌🏽

And if you recognize yourself in any of these seven things, don't just become offended by the correction.

REPENT!

Ask God to change your heart.

Apologize where necessary.

Correct the lies you've told.

Stop carrying gossip.

Stop planning retaliation.

Stop allowing pride to prevent you from doing what's right.

Because the goal isn't simply to look like a good Christian.

THE GOAL IS TO BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS CHRIST.

And Jesus didn't just teach us to love people who treat us well.

He taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. (Matthew 5:44)

Now THAT requires a heart surrendered to God!

My, my, my! 🙌🏽🙏🏽

At the end of the day, people may never know everything you've said or done.

They may never discover the lies.

They may never know who started the trouble.

They may never understand your intentions.

BUT GOD KNOWS.

And I don't know about you...

But I don't want to spend my life doing things that God has plainly told me HE HATES.

I want my words to please Him.

My attitude to please Him.

My decisions to please Him.

And yes...

I WANT THE WAY I TREAT PEOPLE TO PLEASE HIM TOO.

Because God cares about how we treat people.

AND SO SHOULD WE. 💙🙏🏽

Reflect & Respond

Today, I want you to read Proverbs 6:16–19 again.

But this time, don't think about the people who have hurt you.

LOOK FOR YOURSELF IN THE SCRIPTURE.

Ask yourself:

Have I allowed pride to keep me from admitting when I'm wrong?

Have I lied, exaggerated, or withheld the truth to make somebody else look bad?

Have I intentionally hurt somebody because they hurt me first?

Have I participated in gossip or helped create division between people?

Is there somebody I need to apologize to or make things right with?

And most importantly:

"LORD, IS THERE ANYTHING IN MY HEART OR BEHAVIOR THAT YOU ARE NOT PLEASED WITH?"

Don't ignore what God reveals.

REPENT. CHANGE. MAKE IT RIGHT.

Because loving God should change how we treat people.

Prayer :

Father God, search my heart and examine my ways. Forgive me for every time I've mistreated someone through my words, attitudes, intentions, or actions. Remove pride, bitterness, jealousy, dishonesty, and anything in my heart that is displeasing to You. Help me love people the way You command me to love them. Give me humility to admit when I'm wrong, courage to make things right, and wisdom to respond righteously even when others hurt me. Lord, I want my life and the way I treat people to be pleasing in Your sight.

In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. 🙏🏽💙