Tag: Righteousness

Two men support each other in a debris-strewn informal settlement.

Trusting in Something Worthwhile

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“One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor. A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water. People will curse anyone who hoards grain, but a blessing will come to the one who sells it. The one who searches for what is good seeks favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him. Anyone trusting in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.” (Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭24‬-‭28‬ ‭CSB – Read the chapter) ‬‬

My son asked me the other day about the difference between Karma and God’s justice. I explained that the former is impersonal and not something we can rely on without having to resort to explanations like that we all live multiple lives. Ultimately, it’s not just. The latter, on the other hand, is personal and just and righteous and always driven by love and grace. It is better in every way. But for all its flaws, that we invented an idea like Karma is unsurprising. We are made in the image of a God who is just and we long for justice in our very souls. The idea that people reap what they sow only makes sense to us. Several of this next group of proverbs would agree. Let’s take a look.

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Pig with a nose ring standing in a muddy farm pen

How to Live a Life of Substance

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“The wicked person earns an empty wage, but the one who sows righteousness, a true reward. Genuine righteousness leads to life, but pursuing evil leads to death. Those with twisted minds are detestable to the Lord, but those with blameless conduct are his delight. Be assured that a wicked person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape. A beautiful woman who rejects good sense is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout. The desire of the righteous turns out well, but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath.” (Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭18‬-‭23‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Our culture is suffering from a crisis of meaning. Having unmoored ourselves from the solid rock of Christian theism with its clear and compelling vision for each person’s life, we are searching with greater desperation for something, anything that can give our lives the substance we need. Work is sometimes one of those things, but again, without that large framework of meaning, it quickly becomes empty too. All the rewards we receive from it amount to nothing. Solomon warns us of that here at the beginning of our next group of proverbs. Let’s take a look at these together today.

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Five friends laughing together at an outdoor café table with phones and drinks

How to Make Your Community Better

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“When the wicked person dies, his expectation comes to nothing, and hope placed in wealth vanishes. The righteous one is rescued from trouble; in his place, the wicked one goes in. With his mouth the ungodly destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued. When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices; when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting. A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked.” (Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭7‬-‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

I remember when Osama Bin Laden was the world’s number one villain. Or at least, it felt that way. He was the ultimate mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attack against American civilians. Hunting him down and bringing him to justice was our nation’s number one international geopolitical goal for a very long time. And then we got him. There’s a whole movie about the effort and the mission it produced called Zero Dark Thirty that is worth seeing if you haven’t. As soon as the news was announced, there were spontaneous celebrations in the streets as people rejoiced that one of the century’s most evil men had been temporally punished for his crimes and could now face the cosmic justice he was due. Solomon said something like that would happen when people like him died. Let’s talk about that and more in this next group of proverbs.

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Senior women learning computer skills during a digital literacy workshop

In Which Direction Are You Heading?

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“The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits evildoers. The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not remain on the earth. The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭28‬-‭32‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Jesus once described the person who heard His teaching and put it into practice to be like a wise person who built a house securely on a good foundation. When the storms of life arose and brought all their chaos to that person’s life, they were not moved because they had a secure foundation. As well versed in the Scriptures as Jesus was, I suspect He had the proverb in the middle of this last set from chapter 10 in mind. Let’s see what else Solomon has to say here about wise living.

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Artisan shaping a heart model beside a sign reading Project: The Unbreakable Heart

The Worth of Doing Good and Godly Work

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“The Lord’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it. As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool, so wisdom is for a person of understanding. What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them. When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever. Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand. The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭22‬-‭27‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

When the first man and his wife ate fruit from the tree God told them not to eat from, thus introducing sin into the world, God took some time after their disobedience was revealed to tell them about exactly what they had unleashed on themselves. One of the things He said specifically to the man was that sin was going to bring futility to his work. He would spend his life working the ground by painful effort. What was once a purely joyful activity was going to become hard for the sake of being hard. Now, anytime work is experienced as the joyful effort God created it to be is a blessing. Solomon reminds us of that here at the beginning of this next batch of proverbs. Let’s talk about that and some others today.

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