A good man is willing to know the worst of himself, and particularly under affliction, desires to be told wherefore God contends with him and what God designs in correcting him.
Matthew HenryRead
Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other.
Interpretation
True teaching requires practicing what you preach to maintain integrity.
Matthew Henry emphasizes the importance of aligning oneβs actions with their teachings. If educators or leaders fail to embody the principles they promote, they undermine their own messages and teachings, thereby creating a contradiction that weakens their influence and credibility. This highlights the necessity for authenticity in both words and actions in order to inspire and guide others effectively.
In practice
In a speech about personal integrity, one might quote this to emphasize authenticity.
A good man is willing to know the worst of himself, and particularly under affliction, desires to be told wherefore God contends with him and what God designs in correcting him.
There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear in keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt in abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them.
To wait on God is to live a life of desire toward Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him, and devotedness to Him.
Scriptures were written, not to satisfy our curiosity and make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints.
What God requires of us he himself works in us, or it is not done. He that commands faith, holiness, and love, creates them by the power of his grace going along with his word, that he may have all the praise.
No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than His holiness.
When I was 10 years old, I loved - I loved books, and I used to haunt the secondhand bookshop. And I found a little book I could just afford, and I bought it, and I took it home. And I climbed up my favorite tree, and I read that book from cover to cover. And that was Tarzan of the Apes. I immediately fell in love with Tarzan.
I never teach until I've spoken to the fighter. I have to first determine his emotional state, get his background, to find out what I have to do, how many layers I have to keep peeling off so that I get to the core of the person so that he can recognize, as well as I, what is there.
The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.
I think I'm always subconsciously trying to write the ideal school play. Lots of parts for everybody, great parts for women - don't forget, more girls try out than boys in the school play; everyone gets to be in the school play.
I always try to teach by example and not force my ideas on a young musician. One of the reasons we're here is to be a part of this process of exchange.
The reason a writer writes a book is to forget a book and the reason a reader reads one is to remember it.
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