The character of godliness

LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. – Psalm 15

Psalm 15 is one of those great little psalms that gives us a clear picture about how the man of God is characterised. Though this cannot be a tick list, it does give us a good chance to compare our own lives to how God describes the man who lives in His ‘holy hill.’

The godly man is marked by his righteous character and upright walk. He is honest. He controls his tongue. He treats his friends and neighbours properly. He does not tolerate evil. He honours those who fear God. He is fair in his business dealings.

When you look at that it really makes a lot of sense. It is a nice mixture of ‘spiritual’ and ‘secular’ character traits. I say that because the secular/sacred dichotomy is a false one that we can too easily perpetuate.

There is no difference in the sacred and the secular. All of our lives are sacred. All of our lives, not just the sacred, reflect our godly character. It is not enough just to go to church and prayer and read the Bible. That is not what true righteousness is.

No single passage of scripture can allow us to examine ourselves and say 'If I can tick these boxes, it means I am godly.'

However, there are places like this where I can look and examine my life to see how I am measuring up. I look at this and say something like, 'When I read this do I really see me?' If I can say 'For the most part, yes,' that does not necessarily I am spiritual. However, if I say 'no' then I know I have some things to work on.'