Wisdom From the ProverbsSample

Proverbs 11

Something God absolutely hates is when we get something of benefit for ourselves at the expense of another. What a way to start a devotional, right?! But it's what Proverbs tells us.

'The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favour with Him.' (11:1)

We all have dishonest scales in our lives, potentially in areas we didn't even know.

So, what is a dishonest scale, and how are we using one?

When we gain something that we think has value, and someone else gets less of it, that's a dishonest scale. Take our words, for example. If you've ever made yourself feel better by making someone else feel worse, that's a dishonest scale. If you've ever gossiped, making yourself more included and the other more excluded, that's a dishonest scale. What about watching films illegally on the internet? We gain the value of entertainment for free whilst taking away their value of effort and cost. Or sharing Netflix accounts with other households when they say you can't. I'm with you. I was equally frustrated and pretended to be ignorant of it for a while, but…God detests it when we cheat others or organisations out of money. He detests it when we devalue others. He detests dishonest scales. No punches pulled.

Now, these may seem a little extreme; however, there aren't levels of dishonesty that God might say, 'That's not as bad…go on then.' He detests it all because it has no place in the kind of Kingdom He wants to build. He wants you to be part of building a beautiful Kingdom; He wants you to be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. He is seeking His people to not only have accurate weights but a scale tipped in favour of others. Paul says, 'consider others as more important than yourselves' (Philippians 2:3). This doesn't demean our value. We give value to others out of the knowledge that we are valued by God.

Why would we tip the scale in our favour at the expense of others when we have all we need from God? We can always give more for others rather than take more for ourselves. We really can be the body of Christ that creates a culture of generosity, justice, accurate weights, and selflessness.

The Holy Spirit will help you walk the right way before God, and in His grace, He will help you deal with one thing at a time. He wants you set free from the old way of walking in sin and is committed to you. So, commit to Him to deal with the dishonest scales and make your weights accurate.