Day 40, Year 1

Godly Integrity

“Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.” (Psalm 25:8 NASB)

The upright people mentioned previously belong to the upright God. The term for “upright” used previously (Proverbs 11:3) and in today’s verse is the same word in Hebrew, yashar. Those upright and acceptable to God always resemble or align with His integrity. According to today’s verse, God’s uprightness has the power to guide sinners back to His right path, as indicated in a Chinese translation, thus providing them with the real option of choosing life. Since God is good, He guides sinners in the way and helps us renounce every evil thought and deed.

Not all upright people can guide sinners back on the right path as God does. But we often serve as God’s assistants because we at least could pray to God on behalf of sinners. There are at least two types of upright people in this world. First, some converted from the path of evil to the path of uprightness and integrity. There are many of these people. Our transformation from sinfulness to uprightness provides tremendous testimonies and experiences that could inspire other sinners to return to God’s right path.

Second, some have lived their whole lives upright but are victimized by sinners. These people might be fewer in number. The longer they live in this world, the more they could be inflicted by sins. Perhaps, these people are led by God to understand the sinful world so that they might be able to help some sinners return to the right path.

God is good. Seeing so many people sink into the sea of sin, He guides some back to His right path. Meanwhile, upright ones need to participate in God’s work of guiding sinners to repentance when given the opportunity, as our journey from sin to righteousness could serve as valuable and inspiring examples to others. In other words, as mentioned earlier, the integrity of the upright guides not only oneself but also others. Some of our guidance from sinful to upright is more likely to be effective for those who desire to be delivered from sins. However, if the upright attempts to guide those who willingly remain under the control of evil spirits, they might often backfire on believers. So, the power of uprightness must be stronger. We should connect more with those with a good conscience, including nonbelievers and those with other faiths.

Reflection questions:

1) Has God ever guided you from sinning to the path of uprightness? If yes, how could you help sinners return to God’s right path?

2) Have you ever helped a sinner return to God’s right path? If so, how did that make you feel?