Proverbs 11:1-11
Have you ever been praised for doing something great? Maybe you got that promotion at your hob for working hard, or maybe you got a good grade on a test that you actually studied really hard for. It’s a great feeling, especially when you feel like you earned it. In Proverbs it states that “the whole city celebrates when the godly succeed.” Can you imagine your whole city giving you a party because you did something worthy of celebration? What we are all thinking is “okay, but that would never actually happen today,” and you’re probably right, but what you don’t realized is that the faithful work you do in your life through Jesus Christ will be praised in eternity. Our purpose in life is not to do good works for our glory and for our celebration, but to glorify His name. Would you rather be know as wicked and have people “shout for joy” when you die? – No need to answer this –
“Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.” As a Christ follower our job is to spread the gospel… that means to OUR city so that we can help “make it prosper.” If we go to church but don’t act like Jesus, we are considered “wicked” who “tears apart” our own city. Solomon talks of this so that we can make a difference in our city, celebrating when the godly succeed, and prospering our city.