Proverbs 13:13 (NKJV) — 13 He who despises the word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

Destruction or reward. A person who despises God’s word faces certain destruction. To despise the Word of God means more than a negative mental attitude toward it; it means failing to heed and obey the Word. If it were merely the word of men, one could ignore it and still not despise it. But since it is the very Word of God, the person who fails to live by it is actually despising it. This person’s life is a public declaration of disdain for the Word. People declare their attitude toward the Word by the time they spend hearing, reading, and learning it and ultimately by their response to it.

The opposite of despising God’s Word is to “fear” it, meaning to respect, revere, and heed it. The person who respects the commandment will demonstrate this attitude by obedience. And that person’s reward is just as sure as the sinner’s destruction.

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