Walking with the Wise #77: Wise Words for Righteous Living

“The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,

but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.” 

—Proverbs 10:32

Jesus said that we are to be as “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) which means that we are to be wise in regards to how we handle ourselves in the world, but innocent in our association with evil. Serpents were symbols of cunning and shrewdness (Genesis 3:1; Psalm 58:4-5), while doves symbolized simple innocence (Hosea 7:11). To be wise and shrewd means that we are to be aware of the world in which we live, while being innocent means lacking familiarity with experiential wickedness.

If we are living according to the Word of God, we will continually be growing in what theologians call “sanctification,” which is to say that we are being sanctified, i.e., made progressively holy and looking more and more like Jesus. Those who are being sanctified will increasingly be familiar with how to think and do what is good and acceptable. But the wicked cannot make such a boast. Instead their mind and mouth are intimately aware of evil and its effects. Paul the apostle knew the effect of perverse thinking and wicked living. He wrote,

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work”—Titus 1:15-16.

Those who live wickedly will continually be given over to more wickedness, but those who are pure, who are seeking to live righteous lives, will grow to look more and more like Jesus and will grow in maturity, as the book of Hebrews says:

“…for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”—Hebrews 5:13-14.

By renewing our minds according to the Word, and by constantly living according to its teaching, we will grow in righteousness and joy as we begin to discover how to become satisfied in Him. And, as John Piper has often said, the more we become satisfied in Him, the more He is glorified in us.

May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in the sight of God, so that God might be glorified in us, as we are most satisfied in Him. Amen.