What I love most about the Bible is that God always teaches us something from a book we may have read several times! A couple of months ago, I read Psalm 15, probably not for the first time, but it felt as though the words were jumping right out of the text to my heart. Honestly, that doesn't normally happen during my Bible study. God always teaches me something, but for some reason, this particular has wrecked my life in a sense. And not in a negative way.
It's more like ever sense I've read these verses, everything I think about how we have fellowship with God has changed. God just revealed Himself to me and that is an awesome feeling! I'll leave it up to you to read this passage (it's super short). But I'd just like to clarify what God taught me. There are nine qualities that have to be in a person's life in order for them to have fellowship with God. If you are missing one of these attributes, you do not have a relationship with God to the extent that you could!
1. "He whose walk is blameless." Can people say anything negative against you? Sure, there's always that one Negative Nelly. But seriously, are we really living in such a way that people just can't point a finger at you and accuse you of something? That's definitely a hard one.
2. "And who does what is righteous." Again, ouch. Doing what's right is one thing...but doing what's righteous? Not so easy. Dictionary.com defines righteousness as "morally right or justifiable." Righteousness deals with what's in your heart. Your actions reflect your morals. Are you reflecting God's righteousness in everything you do?
3. "Who speaks the truth from his heart." This does not mean that you need to spew out whatever is on your mind. In fact, I would strongly advise not to do that. No, what it means is are you an honest person? Is your integrity something that is such a part of you, you just can't shake it. At home, at school, in the workplace- you should be 100 percent honest. If you don't have integrity, you can't have a strong testimony.
4. "And has no slander on his tongue." This literally hit me hard in heart. You know what this is. Gossip. I hate it. It's awful and ugly and destructive......and I participate in it almost daily. Not always willingly, but definitely often. Gossip is the mark of an immature, insecure person. I can't tell you how many friendships I've seen ripped to shreds by a few unkind, exaggerated words. Gossip is a topic God discusses in length in the Bible...and not in a good way. Gossip CAN NOT be a part of us if God is to be in us.
5. "Who does his neighbor no wrong." Don't hurt your peers, emotionally or physically. It's so easy to get a good laugh at someone else's expense. It's natural to want to make someone's life difficult when they make yours a nightmare. But did Christ do that to us? He tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. And let me tell you, wouldn't the world be a heck of a lot different if that one command was obeyed.
6. "And casts no slur on his fellowman." This attribute also hurt my heart. Because I know that I am very guilty of this. This is similar to the 'no gossip' attribute, but the wording is different. "On his fellowman." This implies that this person is your friend. Your coworker. Teammate. Youth worker. This person is supposed to be on our side, maybe even a Christian, and we're talking badly about them? Beating their reputation to the dirt? I've done this. And I've had it done to me. And it sucks. And it's not OK with God one bit.
7. "Who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord." You might be saying, "Duh, of course I like Christians better than people who aren't saved. No-brainer." Well, do you? Who do you willingly spend the most time with? Who do you call or text when you're down? Who do you share the most secrets and inside jokes with? I'm just saying, sometimes we get so used to being friends with people who are not saved that we make our standards meet theirs in order to continue the friendship. We need to stand up for those who honor God no matter what. Even if they aren't particularly friendly to you, that person is God's child and if he/she is honoring God, you honor him/her.
8. "Who keeps his oath even when it hurts." This goes back to integrity. Who you are when no one is looking. I have this problem with my little sister. I'll promise to swim with her or play a game. But an hour later when I'm comfortably doing what I want and she reminds me that I made a promise, I either have to honor that promise or disregard it. I don't care if it makes you physically hurt! If you make a promise, you keep it. Ironically, the Bible advises against making bold, rash promises. just read Matthew 5:33-37. God knew that we would struggle with this. He also knew that because of that, Satan would hit us full force with it. So God says: Don't make promises. He doesn't mean to never promise anything ever. But we are so quick to say, "I promise this," and, "I promise that," that it loses its meaning. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
9."Who lends his money without usury." Usury is the practice of making immoral or unethical loans. In summation, don't be dishonest with your money. The Bible has so much to say about the evils of money and the ruin it can bring on a man. Again, we find integrity at the root of this problem.
This means that you will stand up for what's right under pressure. You wouldn't betray an innocent man to death row for money. You wouldn't look the other way when someone does wrong or accuses the innocent of doing wrong. This is more than having integrity. This is living our your integrity in a bold way. You stand up for what's right no matter the cost.
"He who does these things will never be shaken." Unlike us, God doesn't make promises without keeping them. He promises that if we do these things our faith, our strength will never be shaken because God will be such a part of us...our anchor. Our cornerstone. Our foundation.
