Proverbs 20:11 Commentary and Bible Study

This proverb is about the delusion of thinking that deeds and character can be separated, that a person can behave in a certain way and not shed light on his character, or to put it another way, that a person can do evil and not be altered in his heart by that evil. There is a superficial way of thinking about sin that imagines that a man or woman can sin with impunity. Sin has, they believe, no permanent effect on the soul, and the mind, affections, and will can engage in it without being altered, corrupted, without any permanent stain being left behind. But the reality is that every sin alters the character, hardens the heart, making sin easier next time, and leaves the sinner a slave to sin. This is quite apart from the guilt that results from every evil act, and the debt incurred which can never be paid off, a debt that will drag us down to hell. Even a child begins to form habits, and to develop character. Though those habits are not so deep, and the child ought to be like a young sapling that can be bent into shape, nevertheless the hardening process has started, and the character that will be set hard later is starting to be seen. The deeds of the child are a window on the heart, and in later life the character will be settled so that, without the intervention of God in conversion, there is less and less prospect of change. But the deeds of the child may be right deeds, for even a child can come to faith and be transformed by the Lord.