“No one is established by wickedness but the root of the righteous will never be moved.” | Proverbs 12:3
Sin is inherently destabilizing. It has been that way from the beginning. The creation account of Genesis 1-2 demonstrates that God brought order to his world, which is part of what made it so good. God sets patterns, laws, and a moral order to his world. As a result, the world has a kind of grain to it. Think of a 2×4 pine board with a wood grain – if you run your hand with the grain of the wood, it’s smooth. Go against the grain, and you are likely to be pulling painful splinters from your fingers. This is God’s genius demonstrated, that he has put into creation to train us to do what is right.
Sin goes against the grain of God’s moral order in creation and his explicit commands in Scripture that reveal it more clearly. It should be no surprise, then, that since sin goes against God’s order, it introduces disorder into our lives. Wickedness does not establish a person, says the proverb. It does not set them up on a firm or permanent basis. Sin brings hardships, complications, and disorder to our lives, to greater and lesser degrees.
Take lying as an example. God is a God of truth. He expects his people to speak and live truthfully. When we do, it tends to go well for us. We build a reputation of being trustworthy and upright. Those who lie make life hard for themselves in the long term. Lies are hard to maintain, and the truth eventually comes out (God’s built-in order). The result is often a ruined reputation, and the greater the lie, the worse the consequence. A person cannot expect to establish themselves with any longevity by lying.
Sin is a shortcut, but its results don’t last. Stealing may be the quickest way to get money, but a poor strategy to establish long-lasting wealth. Righteousness, or going about things in an upright manner, with a view to honor God, leads to lasting results. For wealth building, this means working hard, saving, investing wisely, managing money wisely.
The same can be said about all areas of life. Righteousness establishes, sin destabilizes. Sin may get us our way quicker, but it won’t last. A person who lives righteously, doing what is right in God’s eyes, is well rooted, so even if we have little in the world, it is far more secure.
Consider your life. What would you like to build to last through the many storms and trials that will surely come: marriage? children? friendships? home? ministry? career? reputation? Establish it through righteousness. Grow your roots deep in the ways of the Lord and you’ll find a peace and security where wicked paths never lead.
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