PROVERBS 16:8

 

"Better is a little with righteousness
    than great revenues with injustice." (ESV)

"Better a little with righteousness
    than much gain with injustice." (NIV)

"Better to have little, with godliness,
    than to be rich and dishonest." (NLT)

In a world filled with so much dishonesty and corruption, so much depravity and social decomposition - where in many places the good is definitely considered bad, and the bad is considered good (Isaiah 5:20) - this proverb resonates like an echo in an empty tomb. . 

In a world where money is king, where greed is the order of the day, where there are people who think they can do anything to have what they want to have - this life phrase sounds absurd and laughable. 

Who would think of saying that it is better to have a little, earned honestly and fairly, than to have a lot, even if it is earned unjustly, improperly and illicitly? What do the media matter, many say, no matter how illegal or abusive they may be, if what counts is the final objective: "the multitude of fruits"? According to them, the end always justifies the means, whatever they may be.

A few years ago in El Espectador, a Colombian newspaper, a journalist wrote the following: “The living person lives on the fool,” says a popular adage and is one of the proverbs that move part of the soul of a country that prides itself on its ingenuity to achieve goals the short way, without worrying about crossing the lines of what is legal, ethical or decent... It is time to change the chip of a society that applauds the ingenuity to evade the laws and considers stupid those who follow the rules ." (El Espectador, January 18, 2017)

Yes, "it is time to change the chip" of society. But "the chip" is changed first in the mind and heart of each individual. And it changes by following, not what everyone thinks and says, but what the Word of God says: that honesty and justice are more valuable, even if that means living with little - than the end of "many fruits." "does not justify the means if the means are not correct and honest. 

Let us choose, then, to change our own "chip" first: perhaps each of us is not unjust and corrupt in major things and situations - but that does not mean that, in the minor circumstances of our lives, we should not act righteously and with integrity as well. . Whether we end up with a lot or a little, there is nothing that brings more peace to the spirit than a clean and free conscience, a conscience that knows that it has spoken and acted with righteousness and justice.

+ QUOTES FOR LIFE