Day 184 Avoid Evil Proverbs 16:5-6

Avoid Evil 

5 

The Lord detests the proud;
     they will surely be punished.

6 

Unfailing love and faithfulness make atonement for sin.
     By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil.

Verse 5

A proud person refuses to listen to God or to other people. He has his own ideas. He thinks that he is better than everyone else. God will punish proud people. God wants us to be humble.

Verse 6

God does not want to punish us. God loves us. We must trust in him. Jesus died to suffer the punishment for our evil deeds. God wants to forgive our evil actions.

We respect God, so we should not do evil things. However, sometimes we still make mistakes. If we ask God, then he will forgive us, because of Jesus. See 1 John 2:1.

The first proverb can be summarized: Pride is one of the deadliest sins! We've talked about this in earlier devotions and will revisit it in later ones. We always need to guard ourselves against pride.

Verse 6 tells us how to make amends for sins we may have committed: Respond truthfully and with mercy, and approach God with reverence and fear. This is the beginning of wisdom, so you will know how to better atone for your sins.

Let me ask you: Are there people who are hurting because of something you did? Verse 6 tells you how to atone, and the fact that it came up today is a good indication that you need to make amends for your actions.

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