April 9

Proverbs 16:9
 
WHAT one is in his secret thoughts determines his real character. The disciple of Christ is called to maintain the very highest standard of personal purity. He is to judge, in their beginnings, the first evidences of evil desire, lest he fail into grievous, open sin, which will bring lasting reproach upon his name and grave dishonor to the God he professes to serve. To indulge in carnal thoughts and lustful desires is to be guilty of uncleanness before Him, whose holy eye discerns the inmost secrets of the heart. The sacredness of family life will never be jeopardized by one who thus walks in self-judgment before God.
“No end is right accomplished wrongly;
The only good is good all through.
Men must believe, believe so strongly
That nothing but the right will do.
For truth is not a thing of season, —
A thing to alter or to trade;
Men must be right before they reason,
And then may reason unafraid.”
—Douglas Malloch.