Proverbs 21:21

Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor ~ Proverbs 21:21


What interesting virtues to place beside the other. We all have many opposite virtues within us – energy and patience, determination and passivity, gentleness and strength. They, when in balance lead to a good life. If one had the quality of justice alone, they would be a trustworthy person, but not a loveable person. They would in fact be hard and judgmental based on the law. This was a problem Jesus found in the Pharisees and Sadducees. They knew the law, but their hearts were hardened toward perfectionism, lacking mercy. The opposite problem arises when one displays too much love, for this would make one weak. Love often lacks the ability to challenge when one is wrong, and when one overindulges another. This creates a person who is co-dependent and undisciplined. So we can see that too much righteousness or too much love cause an imbalance in a character. Jesus was a perfect balance of the two. He was righteous in that he never sinned and came to relieve us from our sin. He was also tender and loving. For those who stood before him as a Pharisee or a Sadducee you would be rightly reprimanded with a severe tone, and his threats of future punishment would leave no one before him without guilt and shame, or anger. On the other side, Jesus healed the sick, spoke kindly to the outcast, brought the lowly into dignity, and cared for everyone who came to him. There is a goodness and a severity in God. But neither overwhelms the other. They are in perfect harmony. This we strive for as we grow more into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Pastor Julia

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