Not Being Disgraced

 The culture of the Middle East and Asia is mostly a shame and honor culture. That simply means that the worst thing a person can do is to bring shame on his family or on himself or herself in any way. Therefore, the people try to live in a way that will bring honor instead of shame. If they are disgraced by something they have done, they will even go to the extreme of committing suicide. That is how bad being disgraced is in their culture.

King David was very aware of this, and he sought to live a life that brought honor instead of shame. God showed him something important about this. (Psalm 25:3) "No one who trusts in You will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." Let's take a few minutes to consider why this is true and how it can help all of us, even though our culture is different.

When we trust in the Lord that means we put our faith in Him, not just for our salvation from sin, but in everything. Jesus becomes our Savior and our Lord. Therefore, we strive to keep His commands and do what He expects us to do. When we live a righteous life like that, we will never be disgraced. No one will ever be able to effectively bring shame on us or our family for something we have done wrong. Even if people try to slander us, God will be on our side to vindicate us because we have been faithful to Him.

However, people who try to deceive others will be disgraced by their motives and actions. When people try to take advantage of others by lying to them, they will be found out eventually. People will see their lack of character and integrity, and they will be disgraced. When people try to deceive others to think they trust in God, but they don't really have their faith in Him, they will be seen as hypocrites, which will bring disgrace, too. Therefore, we must never try to deceive others, but tell the truth and be people of integrity all the time.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 26-28.