Proverbial Wisdom: Righteous Vs. The Wicked

 Read Proverbs 12

Just as in chapter 11 and what will become a pattern for a large part of the rest of the Book of Proverbs, chapter 12 is another list of wisdom for living.  It’s a mixed list in that it will go from one topic, then another, and then revisit one that it had previously mentioned.  We will see that this is to help us realize that many of the things we encounter in our life are intertwined.  Many times we feel like we can separate parts of our lives but in reality, we can’t.  Our life is our life.  If you believe you can live one part of your life outside the will of God, and the other in the will of God, I’m sorry, but you can’t.  Those lives will eventually “intersect” but when you really look at it from the big perspective, we were fools to think that we can separate them.

The chapter begins with a great admonition and one that really needs to be listened to today.  I love the NKJV translation of this verse because it is so blunt, just as the writer proposed.  It says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.”  Just plainly put, if you get on the defensive at all times and you cannot be corrected, you are just plain out stupid.  This is definitely a great example of how the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword and cut right through us.

The rest of the chapter deals greatly with the difference between the righteous and the wicked.  You would think that it should be easy to tell the two apart but when we live in a world that calls evil good and good evil, it can be very hard to tell the difference.  The Book of Proverbs gives us the measure so we can realize the differences in our lives.  

Verse 7:  The righteous are blessed in their home.  A wicked person may live in a nice house and may seem to have everything they want, but their houses are just it, they are just houses.  They are empty walls with fleeting promises and fleeting riches.  When we walk with the Lord we experience a true home.  We may only live in a one bedroom apartment or you may live in a mansion.  If you have the love of the Lord in your heart, your home is where you heart is and that’s in heaven.  I’ve experienced both in my life and I’ve come to realize it doesn’t matter what the physical dwelling is, it’s where my heart is.  I’ve been just as happy in a small one bedroom as I have been in a multi roomed mansion.  God establishes the home in love and in truth.  

Verse 10:  The righteous are kind and generous.  They show their kindness not only in the way they treat people but also in the way they treat animals.  A righteous person who walks in the way of the Lord values all life.  God tells us in His Word that He is still in the process of creation.  The Bible in fact tells us that He knits us together in the womb.  We are to value all life.  Hence, the Bible is very much pro life.  I hate political arguments, but upon this one is very much one that I stand on.  At no point in time should a life be forfeited.  Many times we may think that we know what is best for someone else, even that of an unborn child, but only God knows what will happen.  Even when it seems like a child may be afflicted with a horrible disease, we do not ultimately know what God’s final plan is for that person.  If you need a good example of this, look up the evangelist David Ring.  Born with cerebral palsy, the doctors urged his mother to abort the child.  She didn’t.  At a young age, the doctors told David he would never have children.  He has had children.  He has accomplished so much in spreading the message of God and it was because of the decision that someone valued his life.  A Christian values all life.  Including animals.  A Christian is not involved in animal cruelty.  We are to be proper stewards of the animal kingdom just as God gave Adam the charge in the garden of Eden.  

Verse 16:  Fools can’t control their temper.  The contrast in temperament between the wise and the foolish occurs frequently in Proverbs.  We must learn to control our tempers.  When we allow our feelings to override our judgement, it’s so easy to fall into sin.  Hence the term, “crimes of passion.”   We must talk all thoughts into the obedience of Christ, including any feelings of frustration or anger.

Verse 19:  Remember the old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  That is a lie from the pit of hell.  Words do hurt and as Christians we must remember that.  We can find many ways to turn words into weapons and damage others.  As this verse points out, we hurt others by lying.  We also know that “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.”  (vs 22.)  This is a hard thing sometimes for us to remember and to reconcile.  I know I have dealt with this battle in my own life.  There is no need to lie about it and hide from it since we are talking about it.  Why do we lie?  There are many ways we can try to justify it and we can try to place the blame on other things or situations.  Ultimately, it comes down to selfishness.  I know in my own life, at least that was the truth when I was finally honest with myself.  I was told by other pastors and friends that it was because I had a hard time loving myself and who I truly was and wanted to invent another world for myself to live in, but as I prayed and seeked God’s face, I realized that while that was true, it was true because of selfishness.  I wanted to look a certain way and was selfish in my heart because of that.  I didn’t think of the awesomeness that the Lord had created me as.  I was selfish in the fact that I didn’t honor what He had done in my life and how He had formed it.  Lying destroys.  It utterly destroys as many sins do.  Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Truth is a foundational part of being a believer and we need to embrace it with all of our hearts.  There is no reason for you to be ashamed of who you are.  Again, God has knit you together.  He cherishes you.  He loves you.  God is for you.  Be happy and rejoice in the fact that God has blessed you already and will continue to bless you throughout eternity.

Verse 24:  Lazy people lose their freedom and become enslaved to others.  Their debts accumulate to the point to where they have to become slaves in order to work off what they owe.  The “easy life” of leisure turns out to be very costly, as the sluggard exchanges a pillow for a plow and has to work off his debts the hard way.  In our day, we might say we are experiencing an epidemic of laziness with the misuse of credit.  God commands us to be responsible.  He commands us this not to try to make us have a miserable time but instead the opposite.  He wants us to have an abundant life.  Things of value come when we put value into other things, including our work.

Verse 25:  Our words can encourage those who are burdened.  When we’re walking in the Spirit daily and being taught by the Lord, we’ll know how to “speak a word in season to him who is weary.”  

Verse 26:  We must be especially careful in choosing our friends.  Friendships that are based on money, or sin are destined to be disappointing and cause heartache in our life.  So are friendships with people who have terrible tempers, who speak foolishly, and who are dishonest.  Gossips should not be held as close friends either.  We can definitely be a friend to them, but we must be wise on how close to those that we remain.  We must be wise in who we decide to be companions in our life.

The closing of this chapter gives a great summary of what was talked about in it as a whole.  The difference between the righteous and the wicked.  

The last verse gives us a strong promise that true life is in the way of the righteous.