Proverbs 13:6

Proverbs 13:6 "Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner."

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by spiritual expectation or holy ambition?  Do you ever feel that a life of purity seems impossible or out of reach?  If so, this is the proverb for you!  If you think it seems too difficult to love your wife for the rest of her life or if you think it’s seemingly impossible to respect your husband for the rest of his life, pay attention to the truth of this proverb.  If you’ve watched others stop walking with God and fear the same thing happening in your life, take note of this proverb.

This proverb reveals the nature of virtue in our lives.  Righteousness offers loyalty to the person that embraces it.  Wickedness, on the other hand, is a rebellious thing to the person that welcomes it.  Virtue preserves the path its host is taking while vice derails the path its host is on.  When a sinner performs wickedness, he is welcoming into his life a sinister traitor.  That wickedness will either immediately or eventually betray him and overthrow his ambitions.  When an upright man chooses righteousness, he is choosing something that will not betray or overthrow his holy ambitions.  When we choose virtue, we’re choosing qualities that will not come back to haunt or hurt us.  When we choose evil, we’re choosing to welcome something into our lives that will eventually strip us of our power and control.
 
What does that mean for your life?  In any case when you do right, you’re doing something that will help you keep doing right.  Every time you do right, you’re more inclined to do right.  With more righteousness comes the strength to choose additional righteousness.  Virtue is pure.  With virtue, what you see is what you get.  There is no deceit in virtue.  Righteousness is always right.  Doing the right thing is NEVER wrong.  Righteousness NEVER leads to wrong-doing.  Because going to church is the right thing to do, going to church doesn’t lead to going to bars.  Because reading the Bible is the right thing to do, reading the Bible doesn’t lead to reading X-rated novels.  Because loving your wife is the right thing to do, loving your wife doesn’t lead to loathing your wife.  Because reverencing your husband is the right thing to do, reverencing your husband doesn’t lead to despising your husband.  Because giving to the Lord is the right thing to do, giving to the Lord doesn’t lead to gambling.  Because speaking the truth is the right thing to do, speaking the truth doesn’t lead to speaking lies.

If you’re on the upright, or RIGHT path, doing right will KEEP you on the right path.  If you’re presently on a path of pleasing God and you want to stay on that path for the duration of your life, choosing righteousness one decision at a time will help you stay on that path.  Each choice of righteousness keeps you on that path.  You stay pure until marriage and through marriage by choosing to do right, one web search at a time.  You stay content by choosing to do right, one social media post at a time.  You stay married by choosing to do right, one marital interaction or conversation at a time.  You stay right with God by choosing to do right, forgiving each offence as they come.  You keep walking with God by choosing to read your Bible and pray, one day at a time.  Righteousness will NEVER change your righteous course.  It won’t slowly turn you off your upright path and away from God.  It will never lead you astray or abruptly move you to change course.  Righteousness only empowers and motivates more righteousness.  Each time you speak truth, it emboldens and empowers you to speak more truth.  Each time you resist temptation, it emboldens and empowers you to resist more temptation.
 
Wickedness is very different.  Evil is not loyal.  It has a mind of its own.  Where righteousness helps an upright person achieve his holy ambitions, wickedness does not assist a sinner in his ambitions, no matter how evil they may or may not be.  Wickedness overthrows a sinner.  It takes over.  It has a plan of its own that it wants to achieve.  This is the nature of sin, no matter the life it enters.  We may desire to commit fornication or adultery with just one person but before long, we’ve committed fornication or adultery with multiple people.  We may want to just be a social drinker but once we get drunk, we find ourselves getting drunk all the time and become an addicted drinker.  We may want to just steal a few dollars from our employer but after a few successful heists, we eventually find ourselves embezzling tens of thousands of dollars.   We may just want to look at a few pictures online but in no time, we find ourselves obsessed with looking at every possible picture online.  At some point down the road, the sinner asks himself, “how did I get to this point?!? I've LOST ALL CONTROL of myself!”

Wickedness has very different qualities than righteousness.  Evil always betrays its master in order to become the master.  Righteousness never overcomes or overthrows its master – it faithfully serves his master.  The man or woman who chooses righteousness is on a good path and that choice will only serve to stay on that good path.
 
If you feel overwhelmed with the challenge of doing right for a lifetime, recognize the nature of righteousness.  Every time you do right, you’re getting help to do right for a lifetime.  On the contrary, every time you don’t do right, you’re inviting a little rebel into your life that seeks to overthrow your ambitions and take control of your life.  Stay on the right path by doing right, one decision at a time.