Proverbs 14:2, 5, 25 ESV
“Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.”
Lies abound these days pretty much everywhere you look – in the
gatherings of what is called “church,” out in the world, in the governments of
nations, in the news media, in schools (places of education), in social media,
and in advertising, etc. And lies abound in many marriages where one spouse or
both are lying to the other about their daily activities. For many of the
sexually addicted lie to their spouses and they hide from them what they are
doing when the spouse cannot see what is going on in the dark.
And some of this stems from a false concept or perception of
the word “love.” And I came across this again yesterday when I happened to see
that an actress, Julie Andrews, had played the part of Cinderella in a 1957 movie
musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, called “Cinderella.” And it brought to
memory so many of the musicals I used to watch which were pretty much all about
romantic relationships. But romance is a false idea of true love. But yet this
was what I watched on TV growing up as a child and then as a younger adult. And
so I was being fed this false idea of what love is.
Anyway, there is a song in this musical which was sung by
Cinderella and by the prince as they were discovering that they were “in love”
with each other, which was based on physical attraction upon seeing each other
for the first time. And in the song they ask themselves if they love the other
person because the other person is beautiful or wonderful, or if the other
person is beautiful or wonderful because they love him or her. And then they
also talk about wanting the other person for the same reasons.
But then they ask, “Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s
dream, or are you really as beautiful as you seem?” And this really is where
the danger comes in. For if we are fed this idea that love is romance, and it
is these tingling feelings and physical attraction, and then we get married,
and then reality sets in, then what? And I am not saying that couples will all
lose physical attraction for one another or all emotional feelings, but that
marriage brings with it things which are not in that dream world.
And so many people, but not all people, will go looking for
those feelings with someone else, and if not with a real person, with a dream
or with a movie or a video because they want that feeling of being “in love”
where all is romance and mushy-gushy feelings and where real life does not enter
into the picture. And so if they can’t get that with someone else in person,
though some do, they will invent their perfect lover in their own minds who
will make them feel that way, and they will lust after their imaginary lover in
their minds and commit adultery against their spouses in their minds.
And some of them will use sexually explicit videos to
generate those feelings, as well, and in order to feed their own appetites for
the lusts of the eyes and of the flesh and of the pride of life which they are
living by, and which they are loving instead of loving God and their spouses.
And then, in order to keep their dirty little secrets secret, they lie to their
spouses about what they are doing and they make up stories to try to get them
to believe that something else is taking place. And many of these people are
also those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even some of them are
pastors.
But, as followers of Jesus Christ, this should not be part
of our lives, being devious and deceitful and giving false witness and lying
and hiding what we are doing in secret. And we should not be doing anything
devious and secretive that we can’t tell our spouses. And we should definitely
not be engaged in any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage or in having
romantic affairs, even ones created in our own minds. But we should be faithful
to God and to our spouses in loving them as we ought unselfishly, and in truth.
Proverbs
14:15-16, 22 ESV
“The simple believes everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.”
“The simple” are usually the naïve and the gullible, and
they do tend to believe everyone and everything. So they end up being the
targets of those who are devious and deceptive. But many of them, even when
confronted with the lies they are believing, are not willing to see that they
might be believing lies, because they want to keep believing the lies. And so
at that point they move beyond being naïve to being foolish and reckless and
careless, for they won’t even consider that they might be believing lies.
But the prudent (cautious, wise, sensible) give thought to
their steps. They consider right from wrong and they do not go headstrong into
situations which are going to lead them in the wrong direction. They are also
people who learn from their past mistakes (and sins) so that they don’t keep
repeating the same mistakes (and sins) over and over again. And they are those
who question in their minds if something is good or bad, and so they test what
they see and hear in prayer and in the Word (in context) to make certain that
what they are believing is indeed the truth.
But those who devise evil are those who plot out evil on
their beds, and who determine to do what is wrong and to not do right, and then
they hide their deeds in secret and then they lie about them in order to keep
them secret. And since they are not honest, and since evil is what they devise
in their minds, then evil is what they do, in practice, and not good. And for
those who devise evil, and thus go astray habitually and deliberately, they
usually have no conscience about their evil deeds or who gets hurt in the
process.
But, again, we as followers of Jesus Christ should not be
those who devise and who carry out evil deeds, and then who keep them hidden
and then who lie to cover them up. We should be those who walk (in conduct, in
practice) in uprightness and who fear the Lord. And we are to be faithful
witnesses who do not lie, in practice, by habit. But we are to be truthful
witnesses who end up saving lives, and especially we should be speaking the
truth of the gospel of our salvation and not the lies which tickle itching
ears.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh,
to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This
is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh,
to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving,
forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O
to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy
and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
O
to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour
out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make
me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit
me for life and Heaven above.
Oh,
to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come
in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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