Our sin and the enemy draw us away from true friendship, so we must stay close to Christ to stay close to one another.
"The Narrow Path to Contentment" Proverbs 30:7-9
When we seek satisfaction in the material world, we will always be discontent, whether facing poverty or plenty. The only path to true contentment is trusting in the Lord as our complete satisfaction.
"Trusting in the Lord" Proverbs 3:5-8
God calls us to trust in Him wholeheartedly, reject self-reliance, submit to Him in all things, and fear Him by turning from evil. This path brings peace and aligns us with His redemptive purposes.
"The Way Up is Down" Proverbs 29:23
Putting off pride and putting on humility leads to honor.
"Purpose vs. Plans" Proverbs 19:21
God’s purpose is superior to our plans! If we align to His purposes, we will move from Anxiety to Peace.
"Words That Shape Us" Proverbs 13:2-3
Our words reveal and reshape our desires, so we must speak in ways that build up one another and reflect Christ.
"The Beginning of Wisdom" Proverbs 1:1-7
God is the source of all wisdom and knowledge, so we must approach Him with reverence if we want to live wisely.
"Honoring God with our First and our Best" Proverbs 3:9-10
We honor God by giving the first and best of all we have.
Proverbs 16 - "Planning and Providence"
We must entrust our lives to the Lord. This truth is well illustrated in Proverbs 16. Here we see that we can entrust our words, our works, and our ways to the Lord.
Proverbs 31:10-31 - "A Woman of Wisdom"
Focusing on God’s excellence is what produces godly excellence in our lives. In today’s passage, we see a wise woman who exudes godly excellence because she is living for God and others.
Proverbs 22:6 - "Wise Parenting"
Biblical wisdom teaches us that how we engage our young people will have lasting, even lifelong effects. Today’s proverb teaches us that parenting is powerful, so it must also be purposeful. We must be purposeful about our roles and goals in raising up our kids to love and serve the Lord.
Proverbs 30:7-9 - "Wealth and Wisdom"
Wealth can be deceptive, so we need to depend on God. The prayer of Agur encourages us to depend on God for two things, in particular: protection and provision.
Proverbs 31:1-9 - "Wise Government"
When people in power fail to use that power to promote justice, injustice is inevitable. To borrow from the wisdom of Spiderman… With great power comes great responsibility, and so we must learn how to govern wisely. In today’s passage, we see two principles for wise government: 1. Recognizing the pitfalls of power, and 2. Remembering the purpose of power.
Proverbs 27:5-6 - "The Wisdom of Friendship"
Much like love, we typically think of friendship in terms of how we feel. But friendship isn’t really about how we feel. Scripture defines it in terms of actions. Friendship requires faithfulness, so we must learn to be faithful friends. Today, we are going to look at several proverbs that identify two of the essential aspects of faithful friendship: 1. Always loving a person, wherever they are in life; and, 2. Never leaving a person where they are in life.
Proverbs 25:6-7 - "The Wisdom of Humility"
Part of our fallen human condition is that we want to seek honor for ourselves. The wisdom of Proverbs warns us that such pride is a path to dishonor, and even destruction. Humility is the only path to true honor, so we must humble ourselves. In today’s proverb, we see a sharp contrast between the consequences of honoring ourselves and humbling ourselves before God and others.
Proverbs 24:30-34 - "Don't Waste Your Life"
The hard truth is that laziness is incredibly wasteful, so we need to learn how to recognize and avoid it at all costs. Today’s proverb teaches us about the consequences and characteristics of laziness so we can recognize it, overcome it by the power of the Holy Spirit, and live wisely to be fruitful for God’s glory and the good of others.
Proverbs 23 and 24 - "Keys To Success"
We tend to define “success” in worldly terms, and when we see “bad” people experiencing such success, we easily become annoyed, angry, or envious. But we need to redefine success according to God’s Word, which teaches us that true success in life requires submission to the Lord. Our passages in Proverbs make this quite clear. True success isn’t about how we look to others; it’s really about where we look in life and how we look at life.
Proverbs 16 - "Planning and Providence"
Proverbs 16 illuminates the relationship between our plans and God’s plans. They remind us that it’s impossible to frustrate God’s plans, but it’s easy to become frustrated when we fail to align our plans with His. We must entrust our lives to the Lord. This truth is well illustrated in Proverbs 16. Here we see that we can entrust our words, our works, and our ways to the Lord.
Proverbs 15 - "Words of Wisdom"
Wise words must be well-spoken, so we all need some speech lessons. Proverbs 15 gives us at least three lessons in just four short verses. We learn that wise words must be spoken in the right manner at the right moment with the right motives.
Proverbs 1:20-33 - "A Limited-Time Offer"
All too often, we treat wisdom like an optional upgrade to an already pretty-good life. The truth is, wisdom is a limited-time offer, so we really do need to act now! Think about today’s passage as a five-point marketing strategy to convert us to a life of wisdom. Here we see Lady Wisdom choosing an audience, giving a call to action, clarifying advantages, considering alternatives, and comforting with assurances.
