Love and Hate

This flawed idea of God we have,
A god without wrath, only love all the time.
Of course He loves, He is love after all,
But only love? No. What’s love without hate?
He hates our sin; it angers Him so
He will judge and will discipline out of His love.
We must remember that he’ll love and forgive,
But this is no license to bathe in our sin.
He’s washed, and He’s made us to be white as snow
So why would me return to the muck and the dung?
Praise God who is merciful, has compassion on us.
Praise God who keeps oaths, forgets not His own.
Praise God who gives hope, listens to sorrowful men.
Praise God who saves, gave His son for us sinners.
So let’s not forget that His wrath is real.
It sent Christ to the cross to be nailed for our sin.
Each time that we wander, each time we don’t care
We must look to the cross, to the wrath He did bear.
Of course that is love; we can’t argue with that,
So let’s learn from this balance of love and of hate,
And let’s love mercy and justice and walk humbly in truth.
Let’s hate this world’s corruption and join not in it.
Lord, give us the strength to live as You did.
Lead, guide, and direct us in each step we walk.

~reflection on Micah~