Ecclesiastes 7:16

"Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?"

Solomon isn't advocating. half-hearted devotion to God (Revelation 3:16; Luke 13:24; Matthew 6:33). In the context, the word "excessively" describes the attitude of the person who thinks that serving God will magically protect them from all harm.. person who is depending upon their service to God as being the means of securing for themselves material blessings and material rewards. The person who views Christianity as. means of material gain (1 Timothy 6:5). This type of perverted Christianity, just like. wisdom that fosters pride, can be very destructive. The person who thinks that God will never let anything bad happen to them, as long as they are keeping all His commandments, is first of all serving God for the wrong reason. And secondly, will be sadly disappointed. Often, such. person becomes an unbeliever or. cynic after. trial or tragedy. In addition, excessive righteousness is the same as boasted and over-confident wisdom. That is, both have ceased to be true righteousness and true wisdom. Arrogant wisdom is in the same category as self or perverted righteousness. Hence it is not unhealthy to be wholly dedicated to true righteousness or true wisdom (Matthew 5:20).