Brother

Proverbs 18:22-19:3 – He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly. One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse. Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way! A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.

John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Psalm 14:1 – The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

James 1:13-15 – When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Application:

• ·         Christ’s love was demonstrated not only in His words but also in His sacrificial death.
• ·         The “fool” takes no account of God and does not hesitate to show his malice toward “the company of the righteous”.
• ·         Because God in His very nature is holy, there is nothing in Him for sin to appeal to.
• ·         The three stages—desire, sin, death—are seen in the temptations of Eve and David.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV