"An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked." - Proverbs 29:27
"Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."
Approval is a hard issue for me. I've been talking to Kari about how we've struggled with striving after our parents' approval. It's been a lifelong battle. I remember in Wild at Heart, John Eldredge talked about the false motivations that men struggle with. His was performance, but he also pointed to approval and women as other examples of substitutes for Christ.
This verse doesn't seem applicable at first (our parents and jobs or women or whatever aren't necessarily 'the wicked'), but I think it still goes straight to our goals as Christians and as men. Sometimes we have to make a choice between following after the Lord, seeking the restoration of our souls, and knee-jerking back to the bent of our flesh. For example, since I'm approval-motivated, that proverb serves as a warning to me that I can't expect to be both righteous and approved-of by everybody.
It's essential for us to recognize the sacrifices we have to make on the way to our full restoration.
I'd like to talk about this a little more on Monday. Try to make a little mental list of times when you have had to decide between being righteous and doing what everybody else would do so we can compare notes. It's good to know our enemy.
Powell
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