Get Back Up

Proverbs 24:16; For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Two sides. The just and wicked. Both fall. What is the difference between the two?

One falls and stays down, the other falls and gets back up. Now what this verse means by falling is to sin. So both sin, but only one stays in sin. This is what separates the just from the wicked. 

Here’s an example: two people tell a lie. One person keeps on lying and lying to cover up the first lie, and never stops. This person would be considered the wicked person in the verse above. 

The second person, however, realizes that they were wrong for lying. Even though they know that trust could be lost, as well as anything else that could come from the truth coming out, they go and tell the truth. They apologize, try to make it right and make it a point to never lie again. This person would be the just person in the verse. 

The just don’t stay in their sin, they rise up out of it. That is what makes them just.  That is how we become just. We don’t need to dwell on the fact that we sinned, and trust me I know how tempting that can be. We just need do what is needed to right our wrong, and do better next time. 

Now a quick note, we don’t make ourselves just, it is Jesus who makes us just. We can be just because He has become our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). While He is our righteousness, we still cannot live in sin (Romans 6:14-16). But because of this, we can still be just when we fall, just as long as we rise again. 

Bible verses:

1 Corinthians 1:30; But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Romans 6:14-16; 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Christopher Haney