Proverbs 11:3, 6 The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

Many passages in Proverbs contrast the fate of good people with those who are not good, and it uses various terms for each category. In these two verses, “upright” is used for the good, and “unfaithful” for the bad. (In Japanese, “unfaithful” is rendered as “those who be­tray.”) There is a lot of wisdom here. In fact, Proverbs is categorized as Wisdom Literature. Those who ignore it are demonstrating their foolishness! Analyzing these two verses, we see that if your heart is upright, you won’t be wondering about a lot of the minor decisions of life, such as, do I take another drink? Do I flirt with that person? And so forth. In other words, an upright person has a healthy and active conscience. In contrast, someone who breaks their word for some­thing they see as being to their advantage is indeed destroyed by their own actions. Verse six makes it clear that it is our appetites/evil desires/lusts that cause us to break our word, and that leads us into a trap from which we cannot escape by our own efforts. That is why the Gospel is good news indeed: it tells us of God’s grace and power that can free us from the traps we have gotten into. The thing is, no one can be “upright” without the help and grace of God, and the sooner we realize that and cling to Him, the better off we are.

I recently read a blog that talked about how a prominent and very capable general destroyed his career and his legacy by being unfaith­ful to his wife. The story is familiar to everyone paying any attention to the news, and it is an all-too-common one. The writer of the blog was pointing out that we are all in danger of the same sort of trap, and thinking we are not in danger is the most dangerous attitude! I know that I have had the temptation and I have had the opportunity; it is only by the grace of God that those two haven’t come at the same time! I have enjoyed the benefits of an upright life, but I need to remember that it has only been by the grace of God. The minute I start thinking, I can handle that, I get myself into the destructive traps Proverbs talks about. It is only when my focus is on God and pleasing Him that I enjoy the benefits of His promises.

Father, thank You for Your grace! Thank You for the grace of realizing that I’m dependent on Your grace! Help me be an open channel of Your grace to those around me, not excusing sin but not condemning either, rather, drawing them to repentance and faith. Help me always speak Your truth in love, not looking down on anyone but as someone who needs Your grace just as much as the person to whom I’m talking. May more and more believe, trust, and receive Your grace, so that Your house may be full, (Luke 14:23) for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!