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Friday!
Proverbs!
People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they're deceiving you. 
They pretend to be kind, but don't believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils. 
While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.
Proverbs 26:24-26 NLT
Oh. 
Does this mean I can't trust anyone?
Is everyone deceptive and pretending?
What does this say about me? Am I deceptive? 
Yes sometimes I am :/
Sometimes my actions, words, the things I dwell on, don't match my values. 
This proverb also contains a warning. A warning that people's heart and intention can be masked behind the right words. 
Over time it's actions that count. Actions that betray the heart. 
"They pretend to be kind" because they actually want something. 
We don't want to believe that people are deceptive, that they pretend, but when I examine my own heart, I find those things there. 
So is there any hope?
Hope for us?
Yes there always is - the gospel of Jesus is all about renewal, of change, of transformation as we, as I surrender more to Him, as I work to live with integrity in the small choices, choose to love God and allow Him closer, and to love people without the pretence, without wanting anything. 
Hope is found in our faith in action. 
#proverbs
#wisdom
#somethingtochewon

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