Tagged: wisdom

Wisdom in choosing friends 0

Posted by on in Friendship, Wisdom

In case you missed it yesterday… Get wisdom! Again we see that all other good things flow from Wisdom.

“Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.” Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. … When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble.” (Proverbs 4:8-10, 12 NKJV)

How can we know we are operating in wisdom? Solomon gives a way to tell in the form of observation of the company you keep.

“Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make  someone  fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.” (Proverbs 4:14-17 NKJV)

Based on that, here are some questions to ask about your friends and associates.  Are they evil? Do they delight in seeing others fall? Are they restless until they have done evil? Do they enjoy violence?  These questions seem simple to answer for us today, but are they?  Many of us and our friends do not enjoy violence, at least not in the real world, but how about in video games?  What about on television? Doesn’t it feel good to see someone “get what’s coming to them” in a movie.  To see a “justified killing” produces in us a sense of right overcoming wrong, but it’s still violent.

Digital association is a powerful tool, for good and for evil.  What is digital association you ask, it is a connection between things or people via a digital medium or other technology.  Some examples would include CDs or DVDs of a leadership coach, the more you listen or watch them, the more you will think and act like the coach recorded on them.  Conference calls, Skype, chatrooms, all of these given enough time will shape our thoughts and actions to be more like the people producing or participating in them.  Podcasts, television shows, movies, these are all forms of digital association.  Some forms are stronger than others, but all have the power to shape our thoughts and actions given enough time and re-enforcing behavior.

Back to the question at hand, am I living in wisdom?  Take stock of what you are doing with your time and association in the above questions, and you are well on your way to knowing if you are walking with the wise or spending too much time with fools.

Wisdom as the source of honor and more 0

Posted by on in Wisdom

Wisdom leads to honor, riches, long life.

Nothing on earth compares to the power associated with having wisdom.

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.” (Proverbs 3:13-16 NKJV)

We are told God’s wisdom and knowledge are so vast that with it He created the earth, established the Heavens, and broke up the waters of the deep.

“The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; By His knowledge the depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew.” (Proverbs 3:19, 20 NKJV)

For all our human knowledge we still cannot fathom how God did these things. We can explain so much, but with all the knowledge we gain, more questions come. Many of our scientific pursuits were birthed out of wanting to know how God put everything together and how it works. Seeking this out is a great way to honor God, by acknowledging His wisdom is greater than ours, and humbly seeking to learn what he already knows and has done.

Why is that humble nature needed? When we become wise in our own eyes, thinking we have all the answers, thinking we are the source of our wisdom and knowledge, thinking we are bigger in intellect than those before us, we become fools.

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. … Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble. The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.” (Proverbs 3:7, 34, 35 NKJV)

 

Foolishness, Something We All Should Avoid 0

Posted by on in Foolishness

Fools, how to avoid them, and how to tell if you have some fool in you.

Today’s chapter covers foolishness, foolish behavior, and general traits of a fool in quite a bit of depth.  Here’s a summary of the things fools do, in case you were wondering if you fall into Solomon’s definition of a fool.

  • Ill fitting of honor
  • Unworthy of delivering messages
  • Useless like a lame man’s legs
  • Unable to understand proverbs
  • A danger to hire
  • Repeating the same mistakes over and over again

Sometimes I have felt like these things, other times I have actually done some of these things.  Do people in your life come to mind when you read that list?  If it’s someone other than you first, you should probably re-read verse 12:

12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Be sure you are not being wise in your own eyes before you start pointing fingers or listing off foolishness of others in your life.  It’s also great to get someone in your life that can play the part of identifying your foolishness for you and agreeing to work to remove it from your life.  So much freedom comes with such accountability.  Once you have someone doing this for you, you can start being this for others.  The action in verse 5 should only be take if you are already a recipient of that action in your life:
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
The real trick with foolishness is that we can stumble into it in many areas in our lives.  Be it in our finances, friendships, daily routines and habits, our diet, our exercise or lack thereof, our occupation, foolishness creeps in easily as we let our guard down, as we take our focus off the things that matter; and most easily when we are not willingly allowing ourselves to be held accountable for how we behave in any area of our lives.
So, my encouragement to you, today start the process of finding people whom you can trust to hold you accountable in one or more areas of your life.  You may not see the benefits today, or tomorrow, but over time, you will see yourself transforming into someone that is fitting of honor, worthy of delivering messages, useful to others, more understanding of proverbs, desirable to hire, and most importantly someone that learns from their mistakes.