Tag Archives: live right

As a father, this speaks to my heart right now:

“Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest…” (3 John 5).

You see, I read verse four first (no particular shock there, of course) and thought again along the lines of “Yes, I want to hear that my children walk in truth. Hear it from them. Hear it from others. See it for myself.”

But what about their Dad?

So verse five struck me.

My own living must be entirely marked by faithfulness — to God, to His Word, to His ways, to His plan, to His will.

That is more important than hearing anything about anyone else.

“Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth” (Romans 14:22).

That part of the verse leaves me scratching my head.

Let me check two or three other versions to see if they help me out . . . .

Hmmm. After checking two other versions, I checked Strong’s and learned that alloweth isn’t talking about permissiveness (that is, having a careless, “anything goes” attitude).

Rather, it has the idea of proving — examining and testing things with discernment. Notice two other verses that use different English words for the same Greek word. (I’ll underline them.)

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Well, anyway. Here’s my rendition of the Romans 14 sentence:

“Blessed is he who does not judge and shame himself by that which approves.”

In other words, may you see as God sees — clearly and correctly.

“That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:10).