From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:104
When a person comes to understand the truth of God’s word, there is an automatic response to all that is contrary to God’s word. The pursuit of righteousness leads to a hatred of evil. We see this constantly presented in God’s word.
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.”
Proverbs 8:13
Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 97:10
The New Testament often reminds us that when we come to know Christ as Savior and Lord, we put off the old self and we put on the new self.
Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him…
Colossians 3:9–10
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9
It is extremely important that we understand the correlation between knowing God in truth and hating evil. A person who claims to know the Lord and yet continues to love the things that are evil cannot know God in truth. On the other hand, when you come into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you will spend the rest of your life learning to love Him more and learning to hate evil more!