Afleveringen
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In our world, certain hand motions mean certain things. Sometimes, they mean different things in different cultures. Our verse today relates to one certain hand motion that we should probably do more often: putting our hand over our mouths.
Proverbs 30:31 says, âIf you have been foolish exalting yourself, or have been devising evil, put your hand to your mouth.â This phrase is also mentioned in the book of Job when Job was talking to his friend, but basically doing this meant you needed to stop something. In this Proverb, heâs saying to stop doing two things: 1) stop exalting yourself, and 2) stop devising evil.
The first is a humility issue. Our world today is very focused on exalting ourselves. Itâs all about securing high places and titles for ourselves, and saying, âLook at me, look at me.â But remember when we talked about how wisdom in the Bible says not to put yourself in the seat of honor at the table lest you be shamed by being asked to move to a lower position?
And if youâve been devising evil? Stop that, too. Neither of these things will have good outcomes. Promoting yourself should not be our focus. The book of Philippians tells us we should be considering others better than ourselves. Itâs not about us. We should only make our boast in the LORD.
However, we also have this thing called false humility. For example, if youâre a singer and someone comes up to you after a performance and says, âGreat job, you have an amazing voice!â and youâre like, âOh, it wasnât me, it was all the LORD,â etc. Look, you can say thank you. Itâs okay to accept a compliment. But on the other hand, we shouldnât go fishing for compliments either. Itâs not good for us to be prideful.
Letâs read our verse again: âIf you have been foolish exalting yourself, or have been devising evil, put your hand to your mouth.â In other words, just stop it. If youâre devising evil, keep in mind that the Bible teaches that we reap what we sow. If youâre devising evil, it will come back around to you; there will be a consequence. So letâs get wisdom.
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As we read through the Proverbs, itâs important to remember that these sayings arenât promises. God is not necessarily bound to these things, but they are truisms, things that typically come true. I really hope todayâs verse comes true. Itâs a good one.
Our verse for today is Proverbs 29:17. It says, âDiscipline your son and he will give you rest; he will give the light to your heart.â I hope this is true for both my son and my daughter. Letâs talk about how to apply it the right way.
When most people think of discipline, they tend to only think of one aspect of discipline: correction. But I think discipline has at least two different elements to it: correction and instruction. Discipline is not just about getting kids back for their wrongs. Sometimes we expect our kids to know things that we know, but we havenât yet trained them to know these things. We need to learn to be patient with them and to instruct them as we correct their behavior.These are the teachable moments of which we should take advantage.
My wife and I are trying many different techniques as weâre raising our kids. My son is about to turn 3, and sometimes itâs so frustrating to discipline him. It takes a lot of energy, and sometimes Iâm just worn out and I donât want to do it. But itâs worth it in the end, and I can already see some of the benefits and the fruit of our labor. For example, in our house weâve been working on the idea that when my kids donât get something they want, itâs okay for them to be disappointed and sad, but itâs not okay for them to blow up in anger. Itâs been great to see them often times, when they hear me say no, to respond back with, âOkay.â These moments remind me that we need to be diligent in disciplining our children well because 1) God commands us to, 2) itâs good for them, and 3) itâs good for us.
So itâs hard work, but itâs worth it. The other night my son woke up in the middle of the night and started yelling, âI need to go pee!â So we got up, I took him to the bathroom, and when we got there, he started telling me he hadnât been calling for me, but that he wanted my wife instead. My first thought was, âI donât want to be up either, boy! I want to be in bed, but Mama didnât get up!â But instead I patiently chose to say, âWell, when you need help, you get help from whoever is available to help you.â And I got him to get up and use the bathroom, and as I picked him up to carry him back to his bed, he hugged me and said, âI love you.â A minute ago he didnât want me, but being faithful in discipline that includes instruction pays off.
Itâs important, as parents, to know both aspects of discipline. Itâs important to have ideas both for how to correct and for how to instruct, so our children grow. I did a series called âConsequences that Work,â and in that series I talk about how consequences that work well need to be explained and they need to be customized. Children need to know what consequences to expect before they get themselves into situations. That way, when our kids make a bad choice, the responsibility is on them. They knew what would happen, so they canât be mad at anyone but themselves, and it teaches them responsibility for their own actions. And in doing this, we donât have to lose any unnecessary sleep over it. They knew the consequences, and it was their choice to earn the consequence, not ours to put it on them. And that gives us rest.
Letâs read our verse one more time: âDiscipline your son and he will give you rest; he will give the light to your heart,â Proverbs 29:17.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Recently, there was a story on the news about a guy whoâs a graffiti artist. He went and vandalized someone elseâs property; he went and put up his artwork on someone elseâs building without asking. Then a magazine was looking for a place to do a photo shoot, and they decided to use the building with this manâs artwork. This made the graffiti artist upset, so heâs suing the magazine for using his artwork without permissionâŠthat he illegally put up. I canât wait to see how this works out.
Our verse today is Proverbs 28:5. It says, âEvil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.â When he says âevil men do not understand justice,â I think heâs talking about people who reject the LORD, people who have not chosen to follow God. They donât understand justice because theyâre not seeking God. I think thatâs the most evil thing possibleâto reject the God who made you. Not acknowledging the one who gives you breath is evil.
If we reject or deny God and his justice, then we become our own standard of righteousness. This is so common in our world today. Whatever fits our needs is okay, because weâve essentially become our own gods. Consider this quote: âGod made man in his own image, and we return the favor.â We make a God that suits our needs. Many of us are guilty of this on different levels.
But the second part of the verse says, âbut those who seek the LORD understand it completely.â When we seek the LORD, we can see and understand justice clearly and correctly. God is the rightful standard of justice, because he made all things. Itâs sad how hard it is for us believers to speak up today about what is truth, because people donât want to hear it; instead, they want their own god.
But this verse says that âthose who seek the LORD understand it completely.â Sometimes we as believers can become very frustrated when people reject Godâs truth and it becomes easy to lose focus. We need to remember that these people need the LORD. Their problem isnât necessarily whatever particular topic weâre disagreeing on; their ultimate problem is that they need God.
We often try to fix people by making them more moral because that makes us more comfortable, when really they first need the foundation of knowing God. We tend to get that backwards. God has not called us to simply be moral people; weâre called to receive and trust in Christ. Of course evil men wonât see things justly; they donât have the capacity to do so without Christ. So as we pray for non-Christians, letâs make it our prayer not only that they would be moral, but that they would come to know the God that made them.
Hereâs our verse one last time: âEvil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely,â (Proverbs 28:5).
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Have you ever seen the show American Idol? If you havenât, itâs a reality show with singers competing for the prize. When it first started, people would get up on stage and sing who could not sing, couldnât even carry a tune. I know itâs all part of the show, and that reality television is not exactly reality, but when those people got all upset, Iâm thinking either A) this is fake, or B) those people didnât have anyone who loved them enough to tell them they canât sing. No one would tell them the hard truth. Thatâs what true friends do. (If you ever see me auditioning for American Idol, tell me no! I canât sing! PLEASE stop me before I make a fool of myself on national TV!)
Our verse today has something to do with this, with true friendship. Proverbs 27:6 says, âFaithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.â This is so important for us as friends, and for those who are friends to us.
Have you ever heard these sayings? âFriends donât let friends drink and drive.â Or, âfriends donât let friends ruin their lives.â Sometimes we have people in our lives who are fake, or phony. Theyâll be sucking up to you, trying to get you to like them to your face, but talking about you behind your back. We need true friends that will tell us when weâre going down the wrong path. We need friends that love us enough to lose our friendship.
I had a girl come talk to me once who had a friend who was on drugs and in with the wrong crowd. She was afraid for her friend, and she wanted to tell her parents what was going on, but she was afraid she would lose her friendship. I asked her, âDo you love your friend enough to do the right thing for her, even if it costs you her friendship?â She said yes, so I told her then that she needed to make that call. Would she really be loving her if she didnât get her help, and then she ends up addicted to drugs?
We need to speak the truth to others in love. If weâre going to be true friends to people, we need to stop trying to tiptoe around or beat around the bush. We donât need to say things rudely or call people stupid, but we can still call our friends out when theyâre going astray. The verse says âfaithful are the wounds of a friendââit may hurt! It may bother us in the moment when our friends call us out, but itâs so much better than having people sit back while we ruin our lives. So letâs speak the truth in love.
Will you be willing to hear when family and friends speak hard truths into your lives? We all have blind spots in our lives where we need critique and constructive criticism. It can be hard to hear, but we need people to walk alongside us who can point these things out to us, and we need to be willing to listen to these people. Theyâre our true friends.
Hereâs our verse one last time: âFaithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy,â (Proverbs 27:6). So be a true friend, and surround yourself with true friends. Together, we can get wisdom.
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As you may already know, I have the privilege of being a motivational speaker in public schools through Hello Mr. Brown and the Choose Well program. I get to do assemblies and classroom visits and sometimes some one-on-one mentoring, but my favorite is small group talks. I often end up talking with a group of boys about how to make good choices and have self-control. I often tell them this: if you donât control yourself, someone will have to control you for you.
This relates to our verse today. Proverbs 25:28 â âA man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.â We often tend to be very impulsive. We think something and we do it; we think it, and we do it. We donât think about the consequences until later. So when I speak to kids, I try to encourage them to think about the consequences before hand. Itâs kind of like playing chess: you need to strategize, understand what your opponentâs future moves might be, and most importantly, plan your own next moves carefully.
Letâs go back to the idea that if you donât control yourself, someone else will have to control you for you. When Iâm talking to kids, I often use the example of people in prison. For those who are in prison justly, who did something wrong and earned the consequence, itâs likely that they are there because they suffered from a lack of self-control and did something they shouldnât have done. Therefore, someone else now controls them; someone tells them what they can and cannot do. But we should be people of self-control.
I also use this illustration with students: pretend when you get home one day that the walls of your home are gone. Everything else is still there and in place, but the walls are gone. What would happen to your stuff? It would get wet, it might get stolen, and you might not be able to sleep well at night for fear.
In the Bible, we read about cities with walls around them; they were there for protection. Like Jericho. God instructed Joshua to march around the wall and then it crumbled so they could go in and attack. So what Iâm getting from this verse is that, like city walls protect cities, self-control protects us. Being able to control your impulses keeps you from giving your strength away to others when you give in to a lack of self-control.
I think of the issue of gun-control. I know this is a difficult and controversial topic, and there are a lot of grieving people as a result of school shootings and whatnot. But if we look only at the guns themselves, we wonât get anywhere, because deeper down, this is an issue of the heart, and of self-control. We should have self-control in the kinds of media we consume related to this; it affects how we think whether we like it or not.
The point is this: what we consume will one day consume us. What we allow into our minds through our eyes and our ears impacts the way we live our lives. We have to have self-control not only in what we do outwardly, but also in what we do inwardly, or privately.
The bottom line is that we learn to have some self-control. We also need to learn a little about delayed gratification. We canât always have what we want immediately. This is especially important for children. They need to learn how to accept no as an answer so that when they get yes as an answer, they have the capacity to accept it. Teaching our kids to handle ânoâ well is a great way to teach them self-control. Itâs okay to be sad or disappointed, but not to blow up in anger.
Hereâs our verse of the day one more time: âA man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls,â (Prov 25:28). Make sure you have the wall of protection in your life that is self-control.
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In This Episode
The book of Proverbs talks a lot about fools, foolishness, and folly. Youâll hear those words a lot as you go through this book. When a fool does something foolish, and then returns to his foolish ways over and over rather than learning from themâŠthatâs folly! Thatâs foolishness! Our verse today talks about this.
Proverbs 26:11 says, âLike a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.â This verse is kind of gross. Thatâs some gross imagery. This is also why I donât have a dog. I think theyâre gross. I donât want to have to clean up after them, and sometimes they smell kind of gross. Iâm not trying to put down dogs or dog lovers, I just donât enjoy them.
When fools do foolish things, there are natural consequences that are unpleasant and unwelcome. But fools return to these things continually. Why would you do that? Just like a dog returning to its vomitâŠwhy? Why would you do that?
Why do we continue to sin over and over? Iâve been going through a book called The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, and he says that itâs often because weâre more focused on victory than we are on obedience. Victory is focused on me, while obedience is focused on God. God hates sin, and all sin is against God. So for us to go back to our sin, even when we know itâs wrong, thatâs like us returning to eat our own vomit. Thatâs not good.
God is holy, and he deserves our holiness. As people of God, if weâre choosing to walk with God, then we need to turn away from our sin. We will always make mistakes, but itâs important that we learn from it, and then turn from it. We need to repent and turn away from our sin and towards God.
As parents, we can sometimes feel like hypocrites when we tell our kids over and over not to make the same mistakes that we did. Itâs like, âWell, I did that, so can I really tell you not to?â But actually, I think thatâs wise. We know that what we did was a mistake, and weâre trying to help our kids learn from it without making the same mistake themselves. Thatâs wisdom. Donât be afraid to speak up and speak truth when you know something is wrong.
Letâs read our verse one more time. Proverbs 26:11 â âLike a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.â Gross. Instead of doing that, letâs get wisdom.
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Today, we have two verses of the day.
Proverbs 24:1-2. They say, âBe not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.â The idea is this: sometimes we find ourselves comparing ourselves to other people. I think thatâs the start of envy, when we look at other people.
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Andy Stanley once said, âThere is no win in comparison.â You will never win by comparing yourself to other people. Sometimes we like to compare ourselves to people who we think are a little bit lesser than we are. Or we may compare ourselves to people who have what we want, or who we think are better off than we are. Either way, we are going to lose because we donât know the whole story. We canât pick and choose the good without the bad.
Instead, we should stay focused on ourselves, and on God. When we focus on others, or on what we donât have, we become envious. I looked up the word envy on Google and it said, âa feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone elseâs possessions, qualities, or even their luck.â Itâs important that we donât fall into this trap.
Unfortunately, I think social media often leads us to fall into this trap. We may start by just looking, but we begin to browse longer and longer, and somehow everybody elseâs life starts to seem better. But thatâs not true. We tell false narratives on our social media accounts, because they arenât telling the whole story.
Have you ever found yourself growing envious of someone you know isnât doing the right thing, because you want what they have? I know I have. But our verses today tell us not to envy these evil people. Why? Because âtheir hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.â I know this can be tough. But what do you really want in life? Do you want the temporary satisfaction gained by doing the wrong thing? Or do you want lasting peace and satisfaction from walking with the LORD in the way of wisdom?
Proverbs & PsalmsThese verses make me think of one of my favorite Psalms: Psalm 73. I love it because Asaph tells a story here. He starts off following God, but he gets distracted and loses his focus. Letâs read it:
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
I love that the Bible doesnât hide from us that these people werenât perfect. They were broken people, just like you and me. We can relate to them.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
He begins to tell himself a false narrative, that all these people are doing well, and he became envious of evil people. But he could only see the outside.
Letâs skip down:
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[b] of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
He began to see things clearly. He had to understand who and where he really was. He knew he got off track, but he got back on track. Maybe you need to do this, too. Find sanctuary with God. Maybe that means going to church, maybe it means praying. If you donât feel like praying, tell that to God. Be vulnerable and transparent with the Creator of the universe, because he knows it all anyway.
Letâs read our verse one more time â Proverbs 24:1-2. âBe not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.â
Get wisdom, walk with the LORD, and donât be envious of others. Remember: âThereâs no win in comparison.â
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Choices matter, so choose well. Letâs get some wisdom.
One of the joys in my life is that I get to go speak to children at schools about making good choices. My ultimate message is this: when you make better choices, you will live a better life. If you want more information about this, visit hellomisterbrown.com. But this isnât a selfish plug of mine. Itâs the idea about our verse for today.
This verse helps us see that our choices not only impact us, but they impact others, as well. Letâs check it out. Proverbs 23:25 says, âLet your father and your mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.â
Students: make choices in your life that will help you live a better life. Your choices will affect you now and in the future, but they will affect those around you, your siblings, your parents, aunts, uncles, and anybody else. I know your parents may sometimes pressure you to do certain things. I donât always want you to live under the pressure of trying to please your parents; but I do want you to choose well, and to live a better life. Whatever you do, make choices that will honor your parents and honor yourself. Be a person of respect, honesty, and integrity. When you have these character traits, they will help you live a better life, and it will end up pleasing your parents too.
Parents: Make sure you focus on the essential things. Itâs nice to have career goals for your children, but what if they arenât geared for the career you want for them? What if they want to go into the arts instead of being the doctor that you want them to be? They may not want to be what we want; we donât get to live out our dreams through them. We want to make sure we keep the main things the main things: that they have a fear of the LORD; that they love the LORD with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength; that they love and trust in Christ; and that they are making choices that honor Him. All the other stuff will fall into place.
Students, itâs important for us to choose well, and when we do, it will make your parents proud, and it will honor them, even if it looks different than they thought it might.
I hope that my children make choices that I can be proud of, and I also hope that I make choices that my mother is proud of. Of course, our ultimate goal is to please Christ, but if I do that, sheâll be pleased with me, too. One more time: âLet your father and your mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice,â (Proverbs 23:25).
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There is a lot of division in our world today. People have differenceâwe are differentâbut sometimes I think we focus too much on the differences instead of on what we have in common. We will continue to be divided as long as we ignore the value we have in how much we have in common.
Todayâs verse talks about this in light of the rich and the poor. What they have in common is greater than how they are different. Our verse today is Proverbs 22:2 â âThe rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all.â I love this verse. Sometimes we equate our differences into different values. We look at wealthy people as better than poor people because of their monetary worth. Instead of ascribing to be people of honor and integrity, we ascribe to be people who obtain: wealth, possessions, etc. But we need to be careful not to ascribe value to people based on how much money they have, because our verse today reminds us that we are all made by the same Creator. We all get our value because we are His, not from anything else.
One day I was talking to kids in my Sunday School class; we were talking about the image of God and what makes each of us special. One boy raised his hand and shared, âMr. Brown, Iâm special because I have autism.â And I reminded him that yes, he has autism, but thatâs not what makes him special or valuable. He is valuable because he is made in Godâs image. Our looks, our talents, or anything elseâŠthese donât give us value. Only God does.
One day, while I was at Starbucks, I saw a man heading toward me. He was missing a shoe, and looked pretty poor and ragged. And I wondered what was going to happen. I was a little uncomfortable. And then God reminded me suddenly that this man was still created in Godâs image, and that he is of equal worth. Now, because of sin, choices made all the way back in the Garden of Eden, this image has been marred, but the value has always been there. Satan wants it to be covered, but the value is still there. In light of this, donât look down on others because of a lack of success, or elevate them because they are successful. This isnât where our value comes from. Also, keep in mind that weâre all accountable to the same God. Rich people will be accountable for what they have and who they choose to be, just as the poor will be accountable for what they have and who they choose to be.
So donât ever allow anyone to make you feel less than, because you have been made in the image of God. Your value comes from him. âThe rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all,â (Proverbs 22:2).
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Ooooooh, you in trouble. If you hadnât said that, you probably wouldnât be in trouble, but you said it. Youâre in trouble. You might want to get some wisdom.
Todayâs verse is kind of repetitive. But the truth is, itâs good to review things. The Bible repeats itself a lot, and I think itâs because we donât listen the first time. We can be kind of hard headed. Our verse today talks about our tongue, our mouth, and getting ourselves in trouble. Proverbs 21:23 â âWhoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.â We need to guard our mouths and learn to be quiet at times. Just because you think it does not mean you need to say it. We have to be proactive in what we think and say, to put a guard or a key over our mouths.
Remember Proverbs 13:3? âWhoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens his mouth wide comes to ruin.â
Proverbs 12:13 says, âAn evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escape from trouble.â
Proverbs 14:3 â âBy the mouth of a fool comes the rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve themâ
We need to be careful when we speak.
Iâm working on this in my own life, especially in meetings at church. I was just talking to the administrative pastor at my church about this. When weâre in meetings, I could probably say something about everything. Does it all need to be said? No. And I know that. So I have to be careful what I say, and choose when I need to speak up, and when I should stay quiet. I donât always have to say whatâs on my mind.
My father-in-law often tells his wife, âI should get credit for what I didnât say.â I like that! I could have said something, but I kept my mouth closed so I wouldnât get myself into trouble. Now, I know thatâs not the perfect mindset to have; I donât need credit for having the self-control to not say something I shouldnât, but itâs a sign that Iâm growing, because I kept my mouth shut.
I grew up as a very impulsive teenager. If I wanted to say or do something, I did. But our verse today warns against that. If you struggle with this like I do, read the Proverbs and get some wisdom: âWhoever keeps his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble,â (Proverbs 21:23).
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âWhen you choose to sin, you choose to suffer.â â James MacDonald. Letâs talk about this.
Our verse for today is Proverbs 20:17. It says, âBread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterword his mouth will be full of gravel.â This goes along with that quote I shared. When we choose to sin, it only leads to suffering. Even if it doesnât seem like it, there are always consequences for going against Godâs way.
Gaining things by deceit? Thatâs stealing. When I was younger, I would go into the local McDonaldâs where my friends worked. Weâd just give them a head nod and go sit down, and then my friends would just bring out free food. Managers can make this decision, but workers donât have this privilege. That was stealing. That food was gained by deceit. Sometimes it can feel good in the moment, but thereâs always a consequence whether you see it or not.
This makes me think of Joshua. Joshua was the leader of the Israelites after Moses. God told Joshua he was going to lead them into the Promised Land. After the battle of Jericho, God told Joshua to command the Israelites not to take anything from the city. But somebody didnât listen and took valuables from the city that they werenât supposed to take in secret. Well, they went to fight their next battle against a smaller army, and they should have easily won, but they didnât. They lost miserably, so the Israelites were asking God, âHey, what happened?â And the LORD told them that his commandment had been broken, so Joshua had to figure out who had stolen, and then he put that man and his family to death. That stolen stuff probably felt good in the moment, but it ended up stealing his life. Sin has consequences.
Itâs so important for us to understand that sin, whether itâs stealing or sexual immorality, or whatever, it might feel great in the moment, but the consequences will catch up eventually. I want to encourage you to not just have short-term thinking about what feels good right now. Instead, letâs have long-term thinking. How will our choices affect us later? Letâs trust the LORD, and choose to do the right thing.
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Iâm a pretty competitive person, and I like to play games. And I really like to win. But thereâs a game we should never play, because we will never win: the âBlame Game.â Donât play the âBlame Game.â Instead, get wisdom.
Hereâs how the âBlame Gameâ works: you make a mistake or a bad choice, and thereâs a consequence that comes as a result. Instead of owning up to your actions, you blame everybody else for what took place. This is probably one of the most highly played games in the world. It started all the way back in the Garden of Eden with Adamâwhen he and Eve sinned by eating the fruit they were forbidden to eat, Adam blamed God for giving him Eve. But we shouldnât blame God for our sin.
Our verse of the day talks about this. In Proverbs 19:3, it says, âWhen a manâs folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.â This is the idea that when our folly brings us to inevitable consequences, we tend to get mad at God. Even if you didnât get caught, donât think you got away with it, because God knows. So what do we do? We try to blame the Creator of the universe. Think about that, not only personally, but also as a nation. When things go wrong, we want to blame God.
But thank God for grace. We should follow the LORD instead of following the way of foolishness, but we will still sin. Weâve all done something foolish. This is where we should be thankful for the grace of God. When we repent, he doesnât give us the punishment of death that we deserve. Instead, he gives us grace. We should turn away from our foolishness and follow the way of wisdomâŠthatâs Godâs way.
So stop playing the âBlame Game.â No matter where you came from, you didnât get to choose how your life began, your hair color, your skin color, who your parents are. But you do get to choose how your life continues. No matter what other people do or say to you, you get to choose how you respond. Donât follow the way of foolishness, follow the way of wisdom. Follow God, and live your lives according to His prescription.
Letâs read our verse one more time: âWhen a manâs folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD,â (Proverbs 19:3). So donât play the âBlame Game,â because you will lose. Instead, choose to win by seeking wisdom. Oh, yeah.
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We live in a world full of short messages: Tweets, video clips, Instagram and Facebook posts. We also live in a world full of different opinions. Weâre opinionated people. We have our thoughts on something, and we donât usually want to open our minds to hear other people out. Sometimes we make up our minds before even giving the other side a chance to explain where theyâre coming from. Our verse for the day has something to say about this.
Originally, our verse for the day was going to be Proverbs 18:2, which says, âA fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinions.â This is relevant to our culture today. I hope youâre not that kind of person. Donât be close-minded.
This verse applies to our new verse for the day, Proverbs 18:13. It says, âIf one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.â I think this is talking about the fact that our pride can cause us to think we have all the answers. But we need to slow down and hear the whole story.
Have you ever heard a topic come up, and you find yourself deeply entrenched on one side with no desire to hear the other side? This verse reminds us that this is to our folly and shame. Hearing the other side of a situation helps us realize that, often times, it is far more complicated than we thought.
Sometimes we think of these kinds of topics without realizing that they affect real people. We think of gun control, abortion, homosexualityâthese are crucial issues in society, and we must talk about them, but we have to understand that these are dealing with peopleâs lives. The Word of God deals with these issues, but we have to be open to hearing the whole story. Not just the side we want to hear, but hearing the whole story before we come to a conclusion. Some issues are black and white because the Bible deems them so, but even then, we should be careful how we communicate that. It should be done with love and grace.
Read our verse of the day again: âIf one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame,â (Prov. 18:13). Then look at verse 17: âThe one who states his cause first seems right, until the other one comes and examines him.â A lot of times we only hear one side of the story, whoever is talking loudest. Itâs easy to decide that this side is right before hearing what the other side has to say.
We have to learn to listen. The book of James tells us we should be quick to listen and slow to speak and anger. The more I learn about life, the more I realize that I donât know very much. Thereâs so much more for me to learn about, and I need to be cautious not to make up my mind ahead of time.
Itâs easy to get caught up in the whole âhe said, she saidâ routine of gossip, but thereâs always more to the story. Instead, letâs choose to hear the whole story before responding. If we do that, we will #GetWisdom.
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I am not big on camping: mosquitoes, bugs, animals, and the worst of all, bears. I donât want to meet one. Our verse today talks about meeting something worse than a bear robbed of its cubs. Stick with us to find out what!
Our verse today is Proverbs 17:12, which says, âLet a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.â Itâs better to meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs than a fool. What?!
I have a friend Jill who once went camping, not in a cabin or even a tent, but just with a backpack and a sleeping bag. When she came back, she told me she thought a bear had come into her campsite the night before! I cannot imagine meeting a bear. She could have been that bearâs dinner.
Can you imagine meeting a mother bear who thought you had taken her cubs? Yikes. Well, our verse today tells us it is much worse to meet a fool in his foolishness.
When I was growing up, I knew a lot of people in gangs. But I also knew some wanna-bes. You know, they lived in the suburbs, and their parents had more money, but they walked around the hood with their pants sagging, and they wanted to fit in with the gang-banger crowd. These people, these wanna-bes, were more dangerous because they were willing to do anything to try and prove that they were part of the gang.
When you mess around with people who may be foolish, you must be careful. You could end up being accountable for stuff that theyâve done. Donât run with the people who are making foolish decision after foolish decision, and who are neglecting discipline and reproof.
âLet a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly,â Proverbs 17:12. Be careful who you deal with, and how you deal with them, because that is some dangerous stuff.
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Did you know you cannot make everybody happy all the time? You just canât do it. Our goal should be to please One. According to our verse today, that might even please our enemies.
Thanks for joining us for Day 16 of our series #GetWisdom! I must admit, Iâve been trying to make these videos shorter, but I feel like Iâm failing. Anyway, I hope youâre enjoying them, and learning from them. Hopefully todayâs is a little shorter.
Our verse today is Proverbs 16:7. It says, âWhen a manâs ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.â Again, this is not a promise, but a saying that is typically true of life. This is a tough one. Weâre always trying to please somebody, but really we should be focused on trying to please God. As long as Heâs happy, Iâm good.
I spoke at a weekend retreat once, and a girl who was helping lead worship came up to me after a session and asked me if anyone had ever told me they donât like the way I speak. I said, âYes, why?â She told me someone had told her they didnât like they way she leads worship. Thatâs tough, but I asked her, âAre you leading worship to please those people?â She said, âNo, I lead worship to please the LORD.â I told her of an older music album entitled âAn Audience of Oneâ and asked her what she thought it meant: that she should be singing for an audience of One: God.
It only matters if we are pleasing God. We seek only to please the LORD. People are wishy-washy; we want one thing one minute, and a different thing the next. We have to learn to please the LORD, who is constant. 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, âSo whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.â And Colossians 2:10 says, âSo as to walk in a matter worthy of the LORD, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing the knowledge of God.â Paul is praying here for the Colossians, that they would keep their focus on the LORD.
Letâs get back to our verse for the day. When we are focused on pleasing the LORD, God will work out great things. When weâre focused on being honest, truthful people of integrity, even if people donât like us, theyâll respect us.
When I was younger, I saw a lot of gang activity in my neighborhood. I wasnât involved with these people; the only time Iâd hang out with them was when theyâd pull out the basketball hoop, and Iâd play basketball with them. Well, I remember when one of these guys got shot and killedâŠit was actually on my front lawn. The following morning I walked out to my car, and one of these guys told me he and his friends respected me. I think he was trying to acknowledge that even though I did my own thing, I didnât run the streets with them, they respected my choices. Even if you donât like someone, if they have integrity, donât you respect them?
I once saw this quote at a school: âIâd much rather be hated for who I am than to be liked for who I am not.â We so often struggle with trying to fit in with the crowd, but is this worth it if we donât like ourselves? Is it worth it if weâre not pleasing God?
Letâs read our verse of the day one more time. Proverbs 16:7 says, âWhen a manâs ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.â God is the one we should seek to please.
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When people say crazy things to you, do you respond or react? Thereâs a huge difference between responding and reacting. Responding is a more thoughtful process where you took a minute to think about your words or actions. Reacting, on the other hand, is just immediately saying or doing whatever comes to mind.
Our verse today talks about the difference between responding and reacting, especially when it comes to our words. Far too often, we become bothered or offended by other peopleâs actions, or we misunderstand, and we fly off the handle unnecessarily.
When people say things to us that might cause us to react this way, we need to be ready to respond appropriately. Our verse today is Proverbs 15:1. It says, âA soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.â The idea is that if someone says something to you and you respond in a thoughtful way to deescalate the situation as opposed to escalating it, things will be better. On the flip side, if how we speak back escalates things, then weâre likely reacting out of anger.
When deciding how to respond, we should consider what we want the ultimate outcome to be. What do we want to see happen as the confrontation occurs? If you want to end up in a fight, then fuel the fire. If you want to calm things down, learn how to give a soft answer.
One of the biggest struggles we have with this is that we usually want to be right. But really we should ask ourselves: do you want to be right, or do you want to be heard? Sometimes you can be both, but how you respond in these situations matters. We often donât care how our words come across, we just want to be right; but we should care.
This verse makes me think of a time back when I was in school where a white kid who was much smaller than me came up and called me the ân-word.â I knew if we fought that there was no way he could win, so what was he trying to do? He was intentionally trying to make me mad so that Iâd hit him and get in trouble for starting a fight. But I didnât fall for it, because I chose to think and respond after doing so. What I responded with wasnât the wisest, but I did think carefully enough to not hit him first. Instead, I said something to make him mad. I wish I had had the Proverbs in my life back then. I wish I had known to give a soft answer to turn away wrath.
Think about your own life. When people try to push your buttons, whether they mean to do so or not, how can you deescalate the situation instead of reacting out of anger? Letâs choose to give soft answers.
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Are you the type of person that talks about what youâre going to do more than you actually do it? Or do you know people like this? I sometimes fall into this category, so todayâs verse really made me think.
Todayâs verse is Proverbs 14:23. It says, âIn all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.â Sometimes we talk about doing something and treat it as if itâs the same as actually doing that thing. Thatâs lazy. Proverbs tells us there is profit and benefit in working hard, whether it results in money or in creating a better you.
Look at it this way. When it comes to athletes, we often only see short clips, the highlights of their careers. What we donât see is the hard work they put in to get themselves where they are. We donât see the 5:00a.m. wake-up times, the hot dogs they trade in for healthy food, the practices, the trialsâŠwe just see the slam dunks and home runs.
Or maybe you see channels on YouTube with millions of subscribers that are making a lot of money, and you decide you want to do the same thing. Then you make a video and only two people watch it, and you realize itâs not working. All we see are the videos that made it big; what we donât see are the piles of videos that these successful people posted first that didnât make it.
If you want to achieve anything in life, it is going to take hard work. There is profit in all toil. But just talking about it will leave you broke; it leads to nothing. Stop talking and just do it.
This Proverb directs us to not just talk about working hard, but to show it. We should let our actions speak louder than our words.
Hereâs one last example: A father sent his son to camp for a few days. Upon his return home, the father asked his son about what he had learned, but his son didnât want to talk about it. After the son repeatedly denied his requests, the father finally said, âListen, I spent money to send you to this camp. I want to hear about what you learned. What did you decide to change?â And the son replied, âDad, I donât want to talk about it. I want to do it. I want you to see what I learned in my actions.â
Thatâs what this verse is all about. Proverbs 14:23: âIn all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.â
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Duct tape â it comes in all kinds of colors these days. Itâs best use? Taping your mouth shut. It could help you get wisdom. AlthoughâŠit might hurt coming off.
Verse of the Day
Proverbs 13:3,
âWhoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.â
So basically, shut up. Itâs important that we learn that sometimes we need to keep our mouths shut.
This might be wise when: Choosing how to react to people: should you run your mouth or stay silent?
Itâs so important to learn to use our mouths wisely.
Reckless words make promises we canât keep, divulge private information, offend people, misrepresent things, make a person undependable, and unenjoyable to be around.
âThink before you speak.â
Does it need to be said?
Consider what might be the outcome if you say what you want to say. I once made jokes while hanging out at as a camp pastor for a weekend. I thought it was all good and funny until I got a phone call from a girlâs parents telling me that those jokes had caused their daughter to revisit some old disorders.
I felt horrible.
What I said didnât need to be said.
It wasnât helpful. It wasnât uplifting.Your words are powerful, not only for yourself, but for others.
âKind words leave nice echoes.â
Again, âthink before you speak.â
Does it need to be said?
Is it the right time to be said?
What will be the outcome if I say it?
There is a huge difference between responding and reacting.
Responding: thoughtfulness, premeditated words.
Reacting: going off without thinking.
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I got a lot of discipline as a child. I never liked it or loved my mom or grandparents for doing it as a child, but now I appreciate it. They were helping me to get wisdom. They werenât out to hurt me; they were out to help me.
Some kids that I grew up with didnât receive discipline from their parents. Many of them ended up in bad places.
Verse of the day
Proverbs 12:1, âWhoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.â
âLovingâ discipline means having a willingness to accept or embrace it, and to grow from it.
Discipline is more than just punishment. It incorporates instruction and training.
Other verses that talk about this same idea:
Proverbs 12:15 Proverbs 13:1 Proverbs 13:13 Proverbs 13:18 Proverbs 15:5 Proverbs 15:10 Proverbs 15:12 Proverbs 15:31 Proverbs 15:32The bottom line is this: donât reject discipline or instruction from someone else. Donât be stupid. Receive discipline and love knowledge.
We all need to learn, grow, and get wisdom.
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The Bible tells us to âconsider others better than ourselves,â and to put their needs above our own. This can be difficult. Sometimes being kind makes us feel like weâre losing outâŠbut are we? Verse of the day- Proverbs 11:17, âA man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.â âNice guys finish last.â âSee a fool, use a fool.â These phrases make us wary of being kind, lest others take advantage of us. Proverbs 11:17-21 says otherwise. When you do right to other people, you reap spiritual benefits. We should be modeling kindness without expecting anything in return. Our reward is eternal. On the flip side, being cruel is harmful, both to others and to us. When we choose not to be kind, we face serious consequences. I once spoke at a high school, and I saw a tweet from a student that posted, âIâm always going the extra mile for everybody else. When am I gonna get something in return?â My response was, âWhen you go the extra mile for other people, you always get something in return: a better you.â Are you going to be a person who chooses to be kind to other people and make that who you are? It benefits those around you, and it also benefits you.
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