Working Towards a More Manageable Life...Step 4

Step 4

"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

      23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

      25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

      27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28“So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:23-28

      1Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2“But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 3“Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

      4“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

Luke 12:1-6

 Just a little note about verse 5~
"Fear Him: Reverent fear of God liberates from all other fears (vs. 7)."
Note from my Andews Study Bible

    11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

Romans 13:11-13

 Another note I found that I thought worthy to be shared~
"Armor of light~
As light dissipates darkness and armor protects against assaults, Christian conduct born of compassion and pure conscience has power to dispel and reverse the moral decay of the world."

19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. 20For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.

1 Corinthians 4:19-20
"Power~ to effect change"

3For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. 5For each one will bear his own load.

Galatians 6:3-5

"Examine- before God.
Work~ deeds.
 "And not in regard to another~  not in competition or comparison with another person."

3For the lips of an adulteress drip honey
         And smoother than oil is her speech;

4But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
         Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5Her feet go down to death,
         Her steps take hold of Sheol.

6She does not ponder the path of life;
         Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

Proverbs 5:3-6

2All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
         But the LORD weighs the motives.

3Commit your works to the LORD
         And your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16:2-3