Proverbs - Bribery is Not Good

Proverbs 17:23

                                                                     

A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Bribery is not good.  It twists the mind of the one who has to make a clear call based upon what is good and right.  Gifts, flattery and manipulation can cause the person in authority to not be able to judge a matter righteously because self interest begins to play a part in the judgment.  When parenting our children we may melt with that four-year-old’s sweet smile and not follow through with the appropriate consequence.  A teenager can begin to bring to our minds some sort of exchange in the implementation of a punishment we have already instated.  When we are single, flattering words from an unsaved gentleman can confuse the judgment of not being unequally joined together with an unbeliever.  We may even be tempted to persuade our husbands away from a leading they have with our sensuality or pouting.  When we must give forth a judgment or we find ourselves under the authority of another, we must be careful to not have any sort of influence come in and disturb the signal of a righteous God giving us His direction.  Even a friendship we enjoy can be a temptation to not give the right warnings o counsel for fear of losing that friend.  Let us be women who seek first to please the Lord and do that which is right in His eyes, regardless of how it affects us.  We, will then be women who open our mouths with wisdom and affect those around us in the way the Lord intended us to.