Psalm 26:4-5 English Standard Version (ESV)

4 I do not sit with men of falsehood,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5 I hate the assembly of evildoers,
    and I will not sit with the wicked.

There was a crime show that indicated that prison only teaches criminals to get better at being criminals. That thought always stuck in my mind for two reasons. We can learn from other people’s mistakes and we think we will not get caught doing that.

If hanging out with career criminals will make you a better criminal, won’t the opposite also be true? If we hang out with career Christians won’t we be better Christians? Yes and no. Who is to say a career Christian is able to teach you how to be more Christ-like?

If we determine to be more like a man we are now worshipping man more than God. We have to hang out with God to be more Godly. The Holy Spirit is our instructor. Allow me to refer back to Psalm 26 and the opening statements.

Psalm 26:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

Of David.

1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have walked in my integrity,
    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Isn’t this the same David that committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed? That sounds rather arrogant to say he had integrity after what he did. He was caught exposed, all his wives were taken from him and his son died for his iniquity. Where was the integrity in that?

2 Samuel 12:13 English Standard Version (ESV) David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

David believed the Lord and acted as if all those sins had never happened. We have a fresh start, beginning again, where actions dictate our new creature in Christ and not the past.

Do we allow our past to dictate our actions or do we believe the Lord has forgiven us our sins?

2 Corinthians 4:6 English Standard Version (ESV) For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary on glory Strong’s number 1391 “glory” (from dokeo, “to seem”), primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used (1) (a) of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, i.e., what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way he reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Christ, in whom essentially His “glory” has ever shone forth and ever will do, John 17:5, 24.

It should be made clear that our glorification mentioned in Romans 8:30 is not our glory but rather that Christ can and will reveal Himself in us and through us. His glory shines, not ours. We were raised to take the credit for good and the blame for bad but in God’s Kingdom Jesus gets the credit because He took the blame. Our sins fell on Him.

Isaiah 43:4 English Standard Version (ESV) Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

He gave His life for us, now we are His and that is only the beginning. We must do as John the Baptist did, recede so that Christ may be seen. It is not natural after the ways of the world but this is Kingdom living now. Everything reflects on our Lord. Our natural instinct is to say, that is me, it is my fault. We may feel that way but our Lord says, “I paid the price and that is on me now.”

What we say and what we do reflects on our Lord unless He gets to be glorified in us.