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Are We Happy With That?

 


  Satisfied with a job well done.

 It is a nice feeling to be happy with what you have done. For many that is the sign that you have done what you are supposed to have done. You are happy with it.

 Yet consider Proverbs 14:14:

The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his.

  Now here it tells us that the good man is satisfied with his ways, but so does the wicked man. The term here is ‘one that has a disloyal heart’, one that has gone back into sin, one that moves the goalpost on his morals. That guy is just as satisfied. He feels as if he has done exactly what he has supposed to.

  What is it trying to tell us? That being satisfied with yourself is not the best metric for if you have done the right thing. I know folks who have messed things up royally, that will swear they have done nothing wrong. Unless we think sensible and cautiously, we may just be fooling ourselves (Proverbs14:15-18)

 Just because you are happy with yourself doesn’t mean that you are on the right path!

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