What kind of life are you creating?

Amongst the 31 proverbs of Proverbs 21, there are a few that stand out to me today. Firstly, there are some that all point to the same truth – that it’s what’s going on on the inside that really matters.

If we pay attention to what’s going on on the inside, God will take care of the rest. It really is far more important how we do something, than what we are actually doing.

And why we do what we do matters enormously too, of course –

We justify our actions by appearances;
God examines our motives. Proverbs 21:2

So forget ‘religious performance’. How spiritual someone appears to be. The important roles some people have in a church environment. Look rather to how they live and how they treat other people.

Arrogance and pride; rushing into things without careful planning; lying and cheating; selfishness; mixed motives; trouble-making…these may all get you to where you want to be and get the job done, but God sees. Others will see through it all too in the end.

A God-loyal person will see right through the wicked
and undo the evil they’ve planned.  Proverbs 21:12

We are initially easily fooled. Taken in by what looks so impressive on the outside. By the persuasive words. We place these individuals on a pedestal and cannot see past the glittering facade.

Religious performance by the wicked stinks;
it’s even worse when they use it to get ahead.
A lying witness is unconvincing;
a person who speaks truth is respected.
Unscrupulous people fake it a lot;
honest people are sure of their steps.
Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived,
can get the better of God.  Proverbs 21:27-30

We also find in Proverbs 21 great proverbs of encouragement about living life to the full –

You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life!
The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.  Proverbs 21:17

Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind
finds life itself—glorious life!  Proverbs 21:21

It’s all about what we’re pursuing in life. What we seek. What we spend our time thinking about and talking about and daydreaming about and googling. Pleasure cannot be an end in itself. Pleasure is good, don’t get me wrong. I love having fun. But there has to be so much more to life that that. More than the next treat, the next holiday, the next shopping trip…Consider how you spend your time and money, what you put your energies into – they are usually good indicators of what you are pursuing in life.

‘It is in giving that we receive’ – you know, all these platitudes like this have stuck because they’re true. The happiest people are the ones who give, who share, who think of others. Who pursue what is right and kind. For all the right reasons (see all the stuff about faking it to get ahead above).

What life are you creating for yourself right now?

And talking about the life we are creating, how about these questions –

What relationship are you creating right now?

What home are you creating right now?

There’s something that stands out to me about marriage in Proverbs 21 too. Two proverbs here saying much the same thing –

Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.  Proverbs 21:9

Better to live in a tent in the wild
than with a cross and petulant spouse.  Proverbs 21:19

You may comment occasionally about how difficult your partner is to live with, but how often do you consider how difficult it is to live with you?!?

Yes, home is the place where you should be able to be yourself and your partner is the one person you should be free to fully express yourself to without fear of rejection, but have a think. Is there anything you do that makes life hard for your partner that you could just as easily not do? In what ways do you take your partner for granted? In what ways do you take advantage of his/her love for you? In what ways could you make your partner’s life a little less difficult today?

Every day, we make decisions to create our life in a certain way.

We take steps to create the home we want to live in.

The family we want to be a part of.

The relationship that we want to grow and develop.

What we pursue, what our motives are define what kind of future we will create.

What is that looking like right now?