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This chapter really addresses a diverse range of topics. Excessive drinking, gossip, pride, and disobedience, just to name a few. Here is what stuck out to me…
“The one who lives with integrity is righteous; his children who come after him will be happy.”
Proverbs 20:7 HCSB
A lot of people don’t realize how their decisions affect everyone else around them. As a parent, I think about this a lot. I want my daughters to have a solid foundation and to walk with the Lord. The best I can do is live my relationship with the Lord before her, striving for integrity and praying that she knows God. Your decision to live with integrity or not will affect future generations and so many others around you!
“Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?”
Proverbs 20:9 HCSB
This is an honest plea for a solution to the problem that has plagued man since the beginning. There is a temptation to say, “I have conquered my sin, because I’ve chosen to be a Christian.” However, we must look closely at the context. Who can say I have…? The answer is no one. Jesus cleanses hearts from sin. As Romans states, “No one is righteous, no, not one.”
Grace is tricky. It provides unbelievable hope and encouragement while also tackling the reality and severity of our sin.
The balancing act for us as Christians is to see ourselves as vessels carrying the image of God to a broken world while also understanding that we are absolutely nothing without Jesus. We are lost and dead in our sin but we are also created in His image with love and purpose. We must see both of these to be truly effective as ministers of the Gospel!