Read, meditate on, and incorporate these five Bible proverbs into your life — and watch your life improve immediately.
Five Great Proverbs
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
-Proverbs 1:7
People often spend their lives listening to the wrong voices and seeking approval from the wrong sources. When you focus on winning the approval of people (or even of yourself), you take your eyes off your Creator. While cultivating a good testimony is important, we should care more about what God thinks of our life rather than what other people may think of our life.
Keeping our focus on God and drawing our worth, value, and purpose from Him is truly the beginning of knowledge itself.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
-Proverbs 4:7
Education is important. Having a great memory (so I’m told 🙂 ) is also wonderful. Indeed, having lots of knowledge is tremendous. But…
Wisdom eats knowledge for breakfast.
Take a look at the most successful leaders in history (those who made positive contributions to humanity, that is) and you’ll find WISDOM is the one characteristic almost all of them had in common. The greatest example of this would of course be King Solomon – the man who wrote Proverbs 4:7!
Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
-Proverbs 3:30
Television, the “news media,” and social media all encourage us to be voyeurs and critics. Think about it. And this plays into our human tendency to criticize and judge others — in order to distract us from our own problems and make ourselves feel better. This all serves to make us consumers, critics, and complainers.
To see if this tendency (to be a consumer, a critic, and a complainer) has taken root in your soul, ask yourself how often you ‘nit-pick’ or judge other people (including people you barely know). And consider how often you let yourself get upset over what other people say or do — even when that has literally nothing to do with your life.
Along with the above, many people frankly have the habit of mixing themselves up in situations and conflicts which they have no reason to get involved in. Many people thrive on conflict. If they can’t find a conflict to jump into, they’ll start one.
Don’t be like that. Rise above it.
Keep your life as drama-free as possible.
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
-Proverbs 10:4
There’s nothing wrong with leisure, entertainment, or rest. But, we are expected to work.
Not to get too political, but I often hear critics of capitalism rail against “hustle culture” and sneer against the idea that we must work hard to survive. Certainly, it’s not good to “hustle” or work yourself to the detriment of your health or your relationships. We do need rest and balance in our lives. But…
The notion of work wasn’t invented by capitalism.
Work was ordained by God.
Work is not a bad thing. In fact, we’ll be working in heaven.
Of course, work in this fallen world is not as pleasant as work will be heaven. The fact is, it takes hard work to make it in this life. It just does. And we must accept that.
In fact, even your relationships take work.
So, yes, take care of yourself. Get the rest and leisure time you need. Strive for balance in your life.
But don’t neglect your relationships and responsibilities.
Be diligent.
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
-Proverbs 11:14
Do you seek out advice before making decisions?
We are not all-knowing. We are limited in our knowledge. Not only do we have more questions than answers, but sometimes we don’t even know the questions we should ask. Think about that.
What’s more, we can be deceived. We can be misled.
We need leverage. By using appropriate leverage, we can often lift heavy objects — objects beyond our own physical strength. The same is true for knowledge and wisdom. We can leverage our limited knowledge by surrounding ourselves with people smarter than we are. That’s why almost all political, business, and organizational leaders have advisors.
Of course, it isn’t just that you should get advice. You must get advice from wise counselors.
Do you?
Be Wise
The above five proverbs are not an all-inclusive representation of God’s will for your life, but they do serve as markers to help you navigate through the challenges of life. Incorporating the principles of these divinely inspired wisdom sayings into your life will help you avoid foolish mistakes, unnecessary drama, and potentially devastating problems.
Wisdom will quite simply set you up for a life of greater purpose, satisfaction, and joy.
God bless you.
Thank you for the good advice. May God give you the wisdom you need to lead OBC. Miss you guys.