God designed your emotions to protect you. However, for most people, emotions are not a source of protection. Instead, they are often a source of trouble and temptation. Why is this? Your emotions are shaped by what you value and the things that you believe. Thus, Solomon teaches that the fear of the Lord, an emotion, is the beginning of wisdom. Job feared God and turned away from evil. Job’s emotions protected him because he valued honoring God. Therefore, biblical wisdom works best when emotions have been informed by truth. True wisdom is not an exercise in cold, detached, analytical thinking. True wisdom produces a passionate desire to bring honor to God. Bruce Waltke’s translation of Proverbs 4:7-9 captures the […]
Wisdom
270 posts
Rick was angry. He had been turned down for a promotion again. Someone else with less experience was given the position. By the time Rick arrived at home, he was seething. He snapped at the kids, yelled at his wife and started bitterly complaining about his supervisor. Even the dog could not escape Rick’s wrath. “How can they do this to me? I do a great job for the company. This is so wrong! I am praying for God to judge them.” But the truth is, Rick was not a good employee. His job performance was getting worse, not better. What he didn’t know was that in two days he would be fired. He complained so much that no one […]
It is an easy thing to demand justice. People want justice. Watch the news, listen to the candidates, listen to your three-year-old — justice matters. But it is wise to be careful of what you ask for. Yes, you want justice, but do you really want justice for yourself? Do you cry out for God to deal with you as your sins deserve with the same intensity that you demand justice from others? Whose justice are we talking about? Does your three-year-old offer an unbiased perspective on justice? Of course, the candidates and the media don’t appear to be any more balanced in their understanding of justice than your unhappy toddler. Similar to Pilate’s question to Jesus, we ask: What […]
The process of parental instruction is complete when the truth that is learned begins to protect, build up and encourage the children who receive it. Merely delivering instruction is not what is honoring to God or helpful to children Biblical instruction always has the goal blessing the one who receives it. This instruction is not primarily for the benefit of parents. Rather, the instruction parents give to children is to adorn them. In Proverbs 1:8-9, the Holy Spirit says how your words of direction should impact your children: My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck. […]
In 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul connects leadership with parenting. In doing so he gives a primer on both what it means to be a leader and what it means to be father. Paul begins the discussion of a father’s role in 1 Thessalonians 2:9 by reminding them of his toil and hardship for them: Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. This is a window into Godly manhood. True manliness is marked by deep sacrifice and hardship to provide for those under his care and never be a burden to them. Dads work out their […]
Most of the difficulties that you and your children face are not caused by a lack of information. Most arise because of a lack of sound judgment. This is illustrated by the experience of Israel after Joshua died: Israel became a spiritual train wreck. Why? They knew about God but they didn’t know God. Here is what Judges 2:10 says about this time: And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. As you read through the book of Judges it becomes apparent that the people knew about God. You hear him talked about all the time. […]
The world is a scary place. Life is full of things that you and I cannot control. You cannot will your children to safety. You cannot wish cancer away. You cannot remove the drunk driver from the road. You cannot force world leaders to be wise and responsible. You cannot stop dangers on the playground or even in your backyard. You cannot stop the hurricane or earthquake. In short, you cannot eliminate the things that bring fear to you and your family. In these difficult times, God calls you to trust him. Here is what the Holy Spirit says to you from Psalm 56:3-4: When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in […]
Biblical Wisdom is knowing and understanding the truth, obeying the truth, and making decisions based on the truth. Wisdom helps you be more like Jesus in your actions, thoughts and attitudes, by loving God and your neighbor. Here are eleven examples of wisdom in action: Love is giving willingly of whatever I have to meet someone’s need. Humility is knowing that everything good in me is from God alone, and is not for my benefit first, but for serving God and others. I should not put myself first. Self-Control is the ability to say no to my wrong desires and yes to what God wants me to do. Patience is accepting problems without complaining, trusting that God will care for […]
Plans that honor God must be done with the awareness that your plans do not determine your future or bind God. It is possible, even probable, that God has a different outcome than what you planned for tomorrow, even if your planning is impeccable! Proverbs 16:3 is familiar passage regarding planning: Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. It would be easy to take these words as a formula that says: 1) Make your plans; 2) Commit them to God; 3) Therefore you will succeed. But this kind of thinking is a miscalculation of what is being taught. To understand this verse you have to take into account the lines immediately above it: All the […]
You can never be certain that your motives are pure. You know all too well the deceptive nature of your good intentions. Yet, we still tend to trust them. And, we believe the lie that we can know the motives and intentions of others. This combination is destructive to peace, contentment and stable relationships. Solomon makes this warning about motives in Proverbs 16:2: All the ways of a person are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord is the one who evaluates motives. Here are three important lessons to take away from this proverb. First: Your own motives are deceptive. In short, trusting your motives to justify your actions leads to self-deception. The phrase, “all the ways”in the verse […]