Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
Proverbs 13:6
There are a lot of rich words in this short proverb that convey a wealth of helpful information for those who are seeking the motivation and wisdom to live with integrity.
Righteousness is a word conveying right actions, or just decisions that a ruler might make. This word is used of those who follow and pursue the torah or instruction of God. This proverb begins by telling us that righteousness guards or preserves from danger, watches over and keeps close the one pursuing it. As a watchman on the wall of a city is always looking out for possible intruders, this guarding takes place because of the righteous actions.
The way of a person is their path or their habits, manner of life, course of their character. If that way of life is blameless or full of innocence and simplicity, complete in integrity, then their right decisions protect their way from the danger of straying from the truth.
However, the caution of this proverb is that wickedness, a moral, ethical, or religious straying from the right path can distort, twist, turn upside down the one who sins, that is, who is an offense to God.
What is interesting is that the emphasis in this proverb is on the actions of the individuals, and how their habitual actions keep them on one path or the other. We typically are inclined to think that good or bad people do good or bad things. This proverb, though, is implying that the actions of the individuals actually define who they are and keep them doing so.
The wicked person’s actions work in a way to prevent them from doing right. By contrast, the righteous actions of the person of integrity act as guardrails to keep them on right path. From this we can learn that the momentum of actions, good or bad, create a path of life that can define us.
My hope for all those seeking God is that they would remain motivated to continue to live in the ways of righteousness; following righteousness and integrity is a powerful protector for those who are continually seeking him.
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