Smug Does Not Attract

(Proverbs 14:19 KJV)  The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

I don’t know about you but I like this.  The problem is that if I like it too much I am confessing that I am neither “good” (2896a) nor “righteous” (6662).  One of the basic understandings of the Bible is that we are to want the best for others.  We should not want them to come crawling to us.  We are not to be smug when it turns out that we are the only one who filled our gas tank before the station ran out.  This is more along the lines of making it through a rocky time in your marriage and having people turn to you in their crisis.

I think of some friends who lost a baby.  Everything was great up until the day of delivery then suddenly the baby strangled on it’s chord.  It was a tragedy.  They handled it in righteousness and faith.  As a result another couple came to the Lord and are still serving 30 years later. 

So?  Humility is not smug but it is attractive.  We need to be careful not to be self-righteous.  It isn’t pretty nor attractive.