Proverbs 16:6

Mercy and truth. To love God and man with all the heart, to be faithful in the fulfillment of promises and duties, and to hold fast the truth of God, is to cease to be a sinner and to become a true servant of God. It is the departing from evil, not the giving of gifts or the offering of many sacrifices, that brings a man into favor with heaven. This teaching was vastly different fr0m the attitude of many in that day who multiplied sacrifices in the hope of buying the favor of God without the necessary cleansing of the life and works (see Prov. 3:3; 14:22; 20:28; Matt. 22:37).