“If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth. For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.” Stop making people angry. It makes life difficult for everyone. That’s it. It’s not too late. If you’ve been foolish, …
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. I love this. But I love plays on words and interpretation. I love how contextual language is. Don’t respond to a fool in kind or you …
Be intentional with your company. Choose who you spend your time with carefully. Don’t go into debt. Don’t take advantage of other people. Always seek to do what is right, not what is easy or comfortable. Practice discipline. Don’t. Take. Advantage. Of. Other. People. It all seems pretty straight forward. Pretty obvious. But, somehow, it’s …
Ok. I’ll be honest. I’m a bit exhausted this week. There wasn’t really a particular verse that leapt out to me, or a particular theme. What did strike me was how dense Proverbs is. Yes, a lot of these verses are variations on a theme, but there’s no narrative here. There’s no progression. It’s just …
A man’s spirit can endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? I gotta say, this is a verse I can identify with. I have dealt with chronic health issues for most of my life. It isn’t the pain itself that gets me down, it’s what the pain takes from me. It’s the opportunities …
“The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.” I kind of skidded to a halt on this verse. My mind goes two ways with that first half. He can’t help our emotions. What we can help is our reaction. What we can control is our response. But, um, this bit seems …
“The tongue of the wise man brings healing.” I wish I could just leave it at that. I really do. I wish that was all I needed to say. It isn’t, though, is it? If only we could take everyone back to kindergarten and teach them to evaluate every statement by asking if it is: …
So one thing I’d like to comment on: wisdom is something to be pursued. It must be chosen, continuously. I feel like a lot of times we get this idea that someone intelligence and wisdom are inherent traits. Education is something you pursue, but intelligence or wisdom is something you’re born with. The author of …
So I have a feeling Proverbs may prove difficult to respond to. I don’t know. I might be surprised. I don’t know that I would call them succinct, they kind of repeat themselves quite a bit in order to make their points, but that’s kind of the thing: they’re pretty straight forward. What do I …
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Trust in the Lord with all you heart. Lean not unto your own understanding. I don’t think we’re supposed to be cowering in fear the way we tend think of fear, but, yeah. God is the creator of all things, commands his creation at will. …