What’s Better?
You often hear the word “better” tossed around in daily life: “things get better with time,” “better safe than sorry,” “better late than never,” “we can build a better world,” “for better or for worse,” “my emotions got the better of me,” or even, “Dr. Pepper is better than Mr. Pibb.”
But when you turn to Scripture, you quickly discover that God’s use of “better” runs counter to ours. What we call “better” is often shallow, temporary, or even distorted. God’s “better” speaks to truth, wisdom, holiness, and eternal realities. And that difference must remain crystal clear.
Our Use of “Better”
“For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Ex. 14:12). These were the grumbling words of Israel, freshly delivered from 400 years of slavery yet discontent with the hardship of the wilderness.
“Therefore now, O Yahweh, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.” (Jonah 4:3). Jonah, bitter that God spared repentant Ninevites, preferred death to seeing grace extended to pagans.
God’s Use of “Better”
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. And to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22). The words King Saul heard from Samuel after disobeying God by not completely destroying the Amalekites and their animals.
“Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked” (Psalms 37:16; Proverbs 16:8).
“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You.” (Psalm 66:3).
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man” or “in princes” (Psalm 118:8–9).
“For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her” (Proverbs 8:11).
“Better is a little with the fear of Yahweh than great treasure and turmoil with it” (Proverbs 15:16).
“It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:19).
“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty” (Proverbs 16:32).
“Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed” (Proverbs 27:5).
“A good name is better than a good ointment, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth” (Ecc. 7:1).
“It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools” (Ecc. 7:5).
“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be throw into hell” (Matthew 5:29). Hyperbole by Jesus about getting radical with your sin.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). According to Jesus, you are better dead than causing another believer to stumble into sin.
Jesus is “better” than angels (Heb. 1:4), with a “better hope” (7:19), a “better covenant” (7:22; 8:6), “better promises” (8:6), a “better country” (11:16), and a “better resurrection” (11:35).
Our “better” is often short-sighted and self-centered. God’s “better” points ultimately to Christ Himself.
This list may not be exhaustive, but it is conclusive: in God’s eyes, what is truly “better” reshapes how we measure life, truth, and eternity in a world where our so-called “better” is often nothing more than baser.
Pastor Jeff
“One way to gain victory over sexual sin is to live self-sacrificially rather than self-indulgently, and to do so in every area of life… We show our covenant loyalty to God by maintaining our sexual fidelity to our spouse (or our future spouse).”