Application: Proverbs 16 contrasts the differences between the thoughts, motives and plans of man compared to God. The very first verse acknowledges that reflections of the heart belong to man but then verse 2 tells us that a man’s ways seem right to him but the Lord evaluates the motives. This is tricky because even when we try to evaluate our own motives we are so prone to justifying ourselves. We lie to ourselves more than anyone else in the world lies to us. Even when we want to be honest we struggle to face hard truth because it’s painful. Lying to ourselves eases the pain of looking at the truth. I don’t believe we should live in paranoia, but we should live in the tension of knowing that our thoughts and motives lean toward selfishness and deceit. What I got out of this chapter was the importance of submitting every thought to God. The bible tells us to take every thought captive and test it. Even (and especially the positive ones!
