As I was studying this topic, I noticed three general categories of scriptures. Those that talked about God abhorring his people because they were wicked, those that talked about the people abhorring those that were righteous, and those that talked about the righteous abhorring that which was wicked.
I do not think that God hates people. I think he hates what they do with themselves and their choices - but when it says that God abhors his people because they turned away from him and are doing all sorts of awful things, I think it is not saying that God was trying to say "I hate you all." I think it is really just God being very very disappointed with his children who really should have known better.
What I really got out of this study was a call to self-evaluation. In Romans 12:9 it says "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." God is calling and asking me to abhor evil, but my question is how do I know when something is evil? The sunday school answer is "The Spirit" or "The Light of Christ" (more commonly called a conscience) - but in order to be attuned to the Spirit to learn things you have to be living relatively good. It seems like an endless cycle that I can't really jump into. I guess that is where faith and the commandments step up - they are my ticket in. By having faith I'm opening myself up to the Spirit to speak to me - by living the commandments I'm removing already the black and white things that God has said are evil.
I guess the next point this brought up was am I really paying attention? Do I just kind of move through the motions of my day without thinking "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" "Will this make me a better person?" "Is this something that God wants me to do/say/think?" When I'm faced with something that is good, how do I react? And likewise, what is my reaction to something that is bad? Finally, what does that say about the state of my own spirit?
In some ways, this was a wake up call. Not to go out to be over zealous and paranoid, but just to take a little extra time and effort to observe, process and THINK.
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