Burying your head in the sand won’t do you any good. Being honest, observant, and quick-witted will save you from wicked people and preserve your prosperity. Don’t be a victim, be a victor, my friend. You can avoid the traps and vice in this life and be an overcomer for the next. This is the wisdom of Christ Jesus.
- Do not be naive, believing every story or pitch of a stranger, no matter how innocent they seem. Before committing to an action, investigate their character. You may save your very life.
- Because they do not practice their harmful ways all the time, you may find the wicked looking, sounding, and behaving decently. But when you become the victim of their schemes or interfere with them, you suddenly realize their true motives.
- There are many in this world who will not respond to reason or kind gestures. They will not abandon their pet sins even if it means severe punishment. So don’t foolishly attribute your goodness to them.
- When wicked people turn to righteousness, many rejoice; but when the righteous turn to wrong doing, ruin and sorrow set in.
- Sinners are planning their next naughty deed even as they lie on their bed, fortifying themselves with excuses ahead of time.
- The temptations of sin are so subtle that even an experienced saint can become careless and fall into its motions. Keep being perceptive about everything you do, and you will stay safe.
- Tools, though brand new, will quickly rust when left out in the open; and so it is with sin. It will change a friend into a stranger, and a good behaving person into a monstrous rebel. Do not be surprised by how quickly a backslidden heart grows hard.
I am writing this to you because your own politeness and generousity can, at times, become a weakness and calloused people can take advantage of you. I am also writing this so that you will not have unrealistic expectations from those who do not follow God as do you. Jesus taught, “Be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
