Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Face Value
(Proverbs 26:24-26 NIV)
A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. [25] Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. [26] His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
Self-less ambition. No agendas. Face value. How I long for it! Unfortunately, these things require a fight. With others? Yeah, fights happen between people, but only as a result of losing the first fight (ref. James 4:1-3).
The fight with self needs to happen first ... thus termed above as the "first fight." Complete honesty with self and God. The pride inside of a man doesn't like this confrontation. But choose not to fight and that very pride will increasingly demand "catering to." Pride is mean. It'll then cause the man to paint a picture of selflessness ... possibly even of being "the victim." It'll cause him to pretend to be "for the cause" and actually say so. Pride is sneaky.
"... but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly." Sound ideas will be offered, but those that clash with his "kingdom" will be routinely resisted by the prideful man. "Issues" always arise. Eventually, discovery occurs ... the facade of cooperation (being "for the cause") crumbles ... and a tarnished reputation follows.
A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. [25] Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. [26] His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
Self-less ambition. No agendas. Face value. How I long for it! Unfortunately, these things require a fight. With others? Yeah, fights happen between people, but only as a result of losing the first fight (ref. James 4:1-3).
The fight with self needs to happen first ... thus termed above as the "first fight." Complete honesty with self and God. The pride inside of a man doesn't like this confrontation. But choose not to fight and that very pride will increasingly demand "catering to." Pride is mean. It'll then cause the man to paint a picture of selflessness ... possibly even of being "the victim." It'll cause him to pretend to be "for the cause" and actually say so. Pride is sneaky.
"... but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly." Sound ideas will be offered, but those that clash with his "kingdom" will be routinely resisted by the prideful man. "Issues" always arise. Eventually, discovery occurs ... the facade of cooperation (being "for the cause") crumbles ... and a tarnished reputation follows.
# posted by jono : 3:59 PM
