Skip to main content

Proverbs: Our Teaching Tool

I am going to skip ahead of the many other things I wanted to write about to share what I read in Proverbs 22. This chapter became a pinnacle piece of Proverbs because it contains what I believe is an overarching goal of this book: To give us certainty in the truth we are believing and to respond wisely to those that come our way with questions about our truth.

Proverbs 22:17-21 says:
17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.
19 That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

Thank God for the wisdom he gave Solomon. The world is benefiting from the truths and wisdom in Proverbs, even our modern day "gurus" who claim to have new ways of thinking. Below are some of the truths I have highlighted in chapter 22.
  • Equity: (Proverbs 22:922:1622:22-23) God really cares about the treatment of the poor and expects us to be the ones to lighten their burden. He also will punish those that add to their burden. He will bless you for feeding the poor and take away the financial peace and security of those that oppress them. (See also: Proverbs 19:1721:13)
  • Discipline: (Proverbs 22:622:15) It is necessary for your children's soul and future well-being to provide them with discipline and training. Last week my husband and I were wondering what in the world to do once we no longer had the crib to hold our son "captive" for time-outs. So far, that's been the most effective way to help him reflect on his behavior and be sorry for acting naughty. I joked that it would help if we had something like the bars of a crib to put in a corner for time-out, but it would feel too awkward, like we're imprisoning our son. My husband joked that we need the bars to keep him out of bars! Every once in a while my husband makes a good joke that's actually funny. Despite our teasing we could see that discipline is necessary, and this is clearly stated in Proverbs. While your children are young and influential, this is the best time to instill good character, obedience, and discipline into them. The hope is that when they are older, they will already be ingrained with self-discipline in order to make good decisions. (See alsoProverbs 19:18)
  • Friendships: (Proverbs 22:1022:24-25) The types of friendships we have are a reflection of who we are and they can cause a change in our personalities. Keeping negative people as close friends will cause frustration and make you ill-tempered as well. Solomon shows us repeatedly that having friends is very important and he warns us to cultivate positive friendships so they can be a blessing to your life.
Thank you God for the wisdom you freely gave Solomon and now have benefited the world through. Help us to treat the poor graciously, teach our children discipline, and retain friendships with positive people. Lord help us learn to apply your wisdom to our everyday conversations so we continue to show the world that you are the source of wisdom and truth. Amen.
Amen

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Expanse

I participated in a Zoom prayer call tonight with other women at my church and at the end I just had that feeling of loveliness. It felt good, it felt connected, and it made me want to connect with God even more. I opened my Bible and read Jeremiah 2:2 .  Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.” My thoughts after reading this was: Lord increase my wonder of You.  When things are brand new we have a strong urge to learn more, seek more, engage more. When the shine wears off, we become complacent and less interested. Maybe it’s because we feel we’ve learned all we need to know. Maybe it’s because we are too comfortable in the now. Maybe it’s because we can’t see the possibility of there being so much more for us to gain.  When it comes to my spirit and You, God, please open my eyes to see the expanse of all that you have for me to...

Practice Makes Righteous

There were two things that stood out to me in Proverbs 11 . I learned about using discretion and about generosity. Solomon's words show that those who practice these two things are wise. Practice being gracious: Verse 12 : He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. Verse 13 : A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Practice giving lavishly: Verse 24 : There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Verse 25 : The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Verse 26 : He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. Last Sunday, my Pastor's teaching was on the Godly principle of giving and tithing. He pointed out that the expectation for us to give is a test tied to a promise. He t...

Comfort in Discomfort

Our small group chatted recently about a comment our pastor mentioned a few Sundays ago. The comment left some of us scratching our heads and trying to understand how we really  felt about it. Our pastor said that he's noticed a common thread stated by people who experience hardships. They all said they would not change their bad experiences because they now value the good lessons they learned following their trials. The common sentiment was that the pain and hard lessons were worth it in order to grow. I intellectually understood this point, but my physical and emotional, pain-understanding being, disagreed! Do I want to experience hurt and discomfort just to learn how to lean into God and understand that He is my shelter and Comforter? The answer is no , not really. I'd rather just know it. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works. We live with our human nature, ripe with opportunities for exercising freewill. This freewill can positively and negatively impact our live...