“The righteous man walks in integrity; his children are blessed after him.” Prov. 20:7
Married or single, each of us has precious children observing us, watching how we respond in adversity, how/what we speak about others when they’re not around, how we handle praise, how we handle condemnation, how’s our integrity when we think no one is watching…Yes, children are observing you and me.
So, the question is, how do you and I daily walk in “righteous integrity”, especially in the times when our flesh nature screams at us to do the contrary? Let’s see what God says in these verses:
Pv. 2:1-11 “If you accept My words and store up My commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver, and search for it as for hidden treasure, THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God…THEN you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you.”
Rom. 6:19 “You are weak in your natural selves…Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”
(Doing what God tells us to do and not doing what God tells us not to do…especially when our natural self shouts at us to do the opposite… results in inexpressible intimacy with our Lord!)
Phil. 2:12-13 “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”
(Train ourselves to recognize God’s quiet voice, and follow His lead...rather than reacting/responding to the natural voices in our own head. 1Tim. 4:7-8; 1Cor. 9:25)
Finally, John encourages us in 1 John 2:16-17, “For everything in the world---the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does---comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (…lives LIFE here on this earth as well as in heaven!)
God bless each of us this week as we live out our lives for Him ~~~ precious kids are taking note.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
