ALL THE WAYS OF MAN ARE CLEAN IN HIS OWN EYES

Proverbs 21:2 says, “All a man’s ways are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the hearts.” There is a quiet, dangerous truth in this verse: each of us sees ourselves as right, justified, reasonable. We measure our thoughts, our choices, our ambitions, and our actions by our own understanding—and too often, by our own desire. The heart can convince itself that what is convenient, popular, or expedient is virtuous, even when God’s Word says otherwise.

How subtle is this blindness. We can justify pride, anger, selfishness, or compromise in the name of necessity or survival. We can point to others and claim superiority while failing to see the faults in our own lives. Our self-assessment is neat, tidy, and confident; it never trembles under scrutiny—except under the gaze of the Lord. God alone weighs the heart, discerning motives hidden even from ourselves, revealing the difference between appearance and reality, between human opinion and divine truth.

This proverb calls us to humility. To walk faithfully before God, we must examine our hearts, not merely our actions. We must ask: Why am I doing this? Is it for glory, gain, or God? Do I seek my own comfort, or the good of others? Our self-justifications crumble when measured by God’s standard, yet they can seem perfectly reasonable until confronted with His holiness.

Yet this is not a call to despair. The Lord’s weighing of the heart is also a call to repentance and grace. He does not abandon the man whose ways are misguided; He corrects, instructs, and restores. He draws the heart from self-deception into truth, from pretense into genuine righteousness. The Lord does not merely condemn; He purifies, guiding those willing to submit to His judgment.

Let us then walk carefully, not trusting in our own eyes, but in the wisdom and righteousness of God. Let us seek His counsel, examine our motives, and surrender our pride. Our ways may seem clean to us, but only God sees fully. And when He sees, He calls us to alignment with His heart, where true life, peace, and holiness are found.

Lord, open my eyes to the hidden motives of my heart. Let me not trust in my own understanding or justify my ways apart from You. Examine me, correct me, and guide me in Your truth. Make my heart clean before You, and let my actions flow from Your righteousness, not my own. Amen.

BDD