Proverbs 19:8 Amplified

8 He who gains Wisdom loves his own life; he who keeps understanding shall prosper and find good.

Wisdom is something that we should all seek after. There is no one more wise than God Himself, and we can gain wisdom beyond our years through Him. He can lead us and guide us in our decisions and actions. If we follow His leading, and trust that He is wiser than we are, He will show us how to prosper and live good lives. Using wisdom is a way to nurture your life so that it can grow into something wonderful.

Heavenly Father, I pray for myself, and for my readers, that you would give us your wisdom for our daily lives. Guide us to prosperity and goodness. Help us to trust that you are the wisest one of all, and we can nurture our lives through obedience to your wisdom. Thank you so much, AMEN.

Proverbs 11:2 NIV

2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.

Did you ever hear someone brag about something, and then they were embarrassed almost immediately? It happens all of the time. Like, “I never make that mistake,” and then they make that mistake they claim they “never” make? It is foolish to place oneself above another or boast about how perfect you think you are. God is not interested in overly proud, conceited people who feel that they need to prove how great they are.

Humility will make you wise. Thinking lowly of yourself or being overly modest about your abilities is not true humility. True humility is to know that the only reason you are good at anything is because God gave you that gift. Giving all of the honor and glory to the Lord for who you are and what you have is true humility. Without Him, none of us would have breath or life, let alone money, talents, and skills. No one is better than anyone else as far as worth in God’s eyes, and we should not look at ourselves or others any differently. It is perfectly fine to be confident and secure, but it should be rooted in Christ, and not yourself.

If you think that you don’t have a problem with pride, that is the problem! Everyone deals with that temptation occasionally, and more often than not, God brings us down to earth rather quickly if we yield to that temptation. Don’t worry, if you don’t humble yourself, you will be humbled in due time.

Proverbs 15:1 NIV

1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Did you ever try to communicate with an angry person? Did it work? When a person is fueled with anger, they don’t think clearly. It is an extremely powerful emotion, and it can seriously cloud a person’s judgment. Think about it, have you ever said something that you didn’t mean because you were angry? The worse thing that you can do when someone else is angry is to stir the anger even more. If you get angry and start yelling at them, or saying rude, mean or hurtful things, it will only make matters worse.

Keeping yourself calm and responding gently to the person can calm them down much faster. It might even be a good idea to hold off on directly addressing the issue that they are angry about until they calm down. If there is an issue that needs to be resolved, it is best discussed when you are both thinking clearly and not overemotional. If you are angry, do your best to calm down before you do something, or say something, that you will regret. Take a walk, pray, breathe deeply, and gain some self-control.

There is nothing wrong with getting angry sometimes. Just don’t sin in your anger.

Proverbs 10:4 NIV

4 Lazy hands make a man poor,
but diligent hands bring wealth.

I was reading a magazine that offered the secrets of the wealthy. One of the secrets was to “Focus obsessively and work, work, work.” It really reminded me of this proverb. Even though these individuals who have tapped on this Biblical secret might not know this proverb, it has certainly worked for them. The self-made millionaires of the world know that it takes diligence to attain wealth.

According to the dictionary, diligence is “careful and persistent work or effort.” Some individuals might be very diligent, but never attain wealth. If you apply this definition, perhaps their efforts were not “careful.” Not only does diligence require time and effort, but it takes thought and planning. I could work night and day and receive little or not money. If I focus my efforts properly, I can put in a solid work week and earn a decent living. If I discipline myself and work carefully and hard enough, I can become rich. (read more on this)

Persistence is the other part of diligence. I have to press through difficult times, and the temptation to be lazy in order to achieve my goals. Even when things don’t look like I am headed for a wealthy life, I have to remember that my diligence will eventually come through for me. I do believe that, and I am going to start being more diligent right now. How about you?