Proverbs 11:5

Proverbs 11:5 says:

The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

We watch others succeed in this world and get frustrated because we know that they are doing it through wicked ways. We know that they have wicked hearts. It is not a matter of judging someone. It is obvious that their heart is not owned by God and directed by Him. The frustration comes from seeing this make more money in this world and go far in business and with the community. But this verse reassures us that they will be brought down by the very acts that make them “successful”.

It can be really frustrating to watch a cop take a payoff. Seeing them partake in a drug deal makes one sick at their stomach. How can they do this? Why are they not getting punished for this? We might not see them receive justice. It might not happen for years, but it will happen. One day, their acts will have them on the front page of the newspaper. They will be exposed and dragged down by their own acts.

I personally was frustrated with a man in our town who everyone thought was a saint. They all loved him. What they did not know was that he had a violent temper and had almost killed his ex-wife and son many times before. He portrayed his son as a dangerous man and was always doing things wrong. The truth was that the man would set his son up to be arrested or to do something in front of someone that could be misinterpreted. He was a man who began rumors and wanted to bring anyone down who might expose him. I was getting very angry that he was so well esteemed in his church and even praised for his Christian acts. I wanted to scream out the truth so that they all knew the truth about him. A friend of mine reassured me with scripture about how the truth will always be revealed. It might not be in my time, but it will happen. I have to be assured of that and accept God’s timing as perfect. I want it to happen now, but now might be disastrous for others. It has to be perfect timing.

Those that follow God’s way have a straight path. There are no sudden curves or dips. Deception makes our paths crooked and dangerous. We trip when we do things wrong, not when we do things right. I have to realize that the wicked will be exposed and fall. I do not have to do anything. They will do very well on their own. Plus, God is much more creative than I am.

Can Type A's Be Christian?

I have discovered that I am surrounded by type A’s. They drive me nuts. They make me want to go postal. How can a Christian be a type A and still be a Christian? With a lot of humility and discipline.

Yes, I have those type A’s in my life. Always have. They have dictated my dress, my hairstyle, my glasses/contacts, how I raise my kids, how I pray, how I keep house, etc. I have discovered that their influence has been extremely unhealthy for me. As I try to pull out from under them, I feel like God is putting more of them in my life and I can’t understand it.

Once I was talking with someone casually. There was no particular point to the conversation except to get to know one another. My defenses came up as comment after comment was made about how they did not let their kids do what we did and how shocked they were that I would like that movie. Every comment began to be critical. Warning bells went off! It was a good thing, too.

Right after that the person decided that I needed to get right with God and proceeded to contact me every day with “advice” on how I needed to do things better. They even began taking over my domestic duties and appearing at the house doing my work and explaining how I really should be doing. At this point the line of being polite and not being a doormat has to be crossed by me. The results are pretty radioactive.

That is where I am REALLY struggling with God. I am to be a reflection of Him. Okay. Bring on the whip of cords! Seriously, what do I do with a type A? Most of you would say that I should sit down with them and explain how their actions are rude, tactless, intruding, pain in the butt, and suicidal. Sorry to break it to you. Type A’s don’t like to be told that they are wrong. Been there! Done that! Still have the scars!

It does not help that I am not that same type. I don’t want to be up in people’s faces. I don’t want the confrontation. Then why is He putting them there? Showing me how not to act? I get it!!!!!!

In truth, the actions of Type A’s severely depress me. It is because of those in my life that I have wished to run away and never see another human being again. They have caused me more hours of crying and hiding from the world. I need to toughen up yes, but all I see is me becoming like them and I would rather stay withdrawn.

I always thought that if you were a Type A that it was hopeless for you. I was told once by a Type A that if that is the way God made you then you have to accept as well as everyone else. That pretty much took all the hope in my life away. Then God introduced me to someone who said otherwise.

There is a woman I know who exhibits many of the Type A personalities except that she nice. J She is not afraid to face someone. She is a take charge person. She can walk into a room and have everyone lined up and working. Being in charge is easy for her. She’ll tell you like it is. She has her opinions. Yet, all is done with God guiding her. In taking charge, she does not do it because she can or wants to. She does it because she has to and God has called her to do it. When she has an opinion, she is not in your face giving it to you as fact. She prays about it and only mentions it when God directs her. I began to realize that any personality can be reined in and used in a Godly manner. Hope was returning.

Yes, this woman does scare the pants off me. And I still love her. Her strong personality makes me cower. Why? Because every other person with a similar type has used me as their doormat and wiped their feet all over me. I’m having to grow a little to accept a Christ-like type A.

Now, that I have a hanging mob after me I will be leaving the country under an assumed name. 

God, help me deal with the Type A personalities in my life that are not guided by You. Help me hold up and listen only to You. Show me when to speak up and when to be quiet. Help to find the right place to hide the bodies.

Proverbs 11:4

Proverbs 11:4 says:

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

We work forty hour weeks. Some of us go for fifty or sixty. We have to pay the bills and feed the family. There is nothing wrong in that. There is nothing wrong in having nice things. But why do you want so much excess money in the bank?

God does bless us. Some of us with family, experiences, or money. Maybe we get a little bit of all. If He increases that bank account because you are using it to serve Him, then you fall on the righteous side of this verse. If you want the money because it makes you feel powerful, you have to have the best, or you just want more, then all you have is worthless.

Why is it worthless? In truth when the end of the world comes or we die, whichever comes first, there is no way to take all that wealth. It is usable here on this planet. Off this planet, it is worthless. God will be standing before. What He sees is not how much was in your bank account, how big your portfolio was, how much power you had, how many bedrooms your house had, how many houses you had, what make of car or how many. He will not care that you have a little to charity. All of that is worthless. What does He care about? 

He will ask you if you accept Him as Lord and Savior. He will ask if you accepted His presence and message He gave in the form of Jesus. He will ask if you humbled yourself to the Spirit. He will ask what you did with all that He gave you. That is all. Only the right answers to these questions will save you from eternal anguish. So what if you had millions? So what if you gave five million to charity? So what if you built huge buildings? So what? They all decay. They are nothing. He is forever. He is eternal. Do you want the pleasure of the moment or the peace of eternity?

May the only wealth you have be the wealth that He gives you in the form He deems correct. May you receive it with humility and a heart of servitude.

Proverbs 11:3

Proverbs 11:3 says:

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Every day we are faced with decisions that force us to make a decision. We can be honest and forthright about something or we keep our mouths quiet or outright lie. One decision will in the end make us stronger while the other decision will completely destroy us. Seems straight forward right? Then why do even the most upright seem to choose the wrong decision? Because it is easier.

The easiest path is not always the right one. In fact, it could be the deadliest. Let me give you a personal example.

I was on unemployment. I was also doing some writing jobs here and there that brought anywhere from $20 to $100 a week. Now, since it was all self-employment income, it was not being reported to the state for taxes yet. I could have kept my mouth shut and continued on. Instead, I checked the box that asks if I am unemployed. The result? My unemployment held for four weeks as they investigated my work and if it meant a loss of benefits. Those four weeks were painful as we didn’t anticipate the sudden loss of income. If we had not said anything, I would have kept on collecting. What could have happened if I didn’t report it? They would have found out and stopped payment for up to four months (as they did on someone I know who did this) as they investigated. Ouch! I reported it and suffered for four weeks. My reward? Those that knew about respected us more for it. We were an example to them.

When integrity is followed, it is not a bed of roses. Oh,no! It can be painful. It hurts when we admit that we were speeding to the officer. It hurts because there are consequences. Yet, it is worth it. Keeping quiet or lying to save our skin or get away with something might sound harmless at first or just plain easier. In the end, it will hurt us. We will face larger penalties. We could face legal problems. We could lose our jobs. We could find ourselves in a much bigger embarrassing position than if we had just admitted it in the beginning.

You have heard “Oh, what a tangled web we weave.” When we let a lie come forth, we have to create another lie to cover that one. Then another and another. The web we weave is what usually catches us and pins us down. It would have been much easier to confess in the beginning. You lose face, integrity, trust, and even friends.

A man was having an affair with a friend. When asked by another friend who had seen some suspicious activity, the man denied it. Over and over he denied it. Months went by until he was caught red-handed. His response was that it was nobody’s business and that he couldn’t understand why everyone was upset with him. He had lied. Why not confess to his failings in the beginning? Now, his friends were faced not only with his affair but also with a loss of trust. How could they believe him after all those elaborate lies and nasty things said to cover his rear? They couldn’t. Integrity is easy to lose and almost impossible to regain.

When you are faced with the decision to choose the easy way out or to face a little humiliation right now? Which will you choose? A little pain now is much better than excruciating pain later.

Proverbs 11:2

Proverbs 11:2 says:

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Oh, how the prideful can fall! I was just in a conversation with someone about politicians and other people in the spotlight that always get caught in affairs. Did they really expect not to get caught? Yes, they thought that they were so smart that they could have an affair or even hundreds of them and no one would ever know. They were that good. How hard they fell!

Never assume that you have it all figured out. Never think that you are smarter than someone else. Never believe that you are the best. You will find disappoint in the fact that you are none of these. Pride brings disgrace.

For those of us who are not having affairs, do not think that you are exempt from this. Pride comes in more forms than you can count. It comes in everyday actions.

Are you the one who insists on driving and cannot take any comments on their driving? When you go off onto the shoulder, do you bite the other person’s head off when they mention it? Are you the perfect driver? Disgrace could come in the form of a ticket or the death of your passenger. 

When pride runs our lives, we fall hard. These lessons are learned the hard way. We learn them by losing things, position, and even loved ones. Is pride really worth it?

When you exhibit humility, you exercise wisdom. Humility means that you are not the only one who knows thing. Humility means that you might make a mistake behind the wheel. Humility means that you can accept correction because you know you might need it. Humility means that you are teachable and moldable.

Do you want to be a wise person or a disgraced person? We all answer “wise”. Our actions say “disgraced”.  If you think about it, you cannot argue this fact.

We act as though we know it all. We act as though we do not make mistakes. We think we know it all. We obviously think too much.

What we need to be doing is stopping and taking a closer look at our actions and words. Where does humility fit in? Does our pride push humility to the side and prevent us from growing? You cannot be the “perfect” person until you stop thinking that you are.