Tag: Proverbs 14

The Real Right Thing

Proverbs 13-15

Have you ever found it easier to see the right thing for someone else to do than for yourself?  There is a reason for that.  We often times can tell someone what to do but can’t seem to do it for ourselves.

For example:

25 A truthful witness saves lives,
But he who utters lies is treacherous

In this proverb we see that lying only brings destruction.  We ourselves hate being lied to.  We hate seeing people live a lie. We know how much damage it can do.  We know this but I bet if I asked if you have ever lied or lived a lie you would probably say yes.  I bet if I asked you if you knew how to correct that in someone else’s life you would have an answer almost immediately.  It is so easy to see the foolishness in someone else.  It’s easy to know what to do to correct their wrong behavior.  But I bet it is harder to correct in yourself.  Why can we see the answer to foolishness in others easily but have such a difficult time correcting it in our own lives? 

   The answer is we have no emotional ties to their sin.  We won’t have to deal with the consequences of trying to correct our behavior.  I can tell you how to correct your behavior all day long because I don’t have to do it.  I don’t have to deal with the mess.  But if I have to correct a sin I know what that will take, and often times I don’t want to deal with the pain and hurt that comes with going back and fixing issues like lying bring about.

Read Proverbs 14 and see if you can see any foolishness in your life that you need to correct.  Are their verses in this chapter that really resonate with you?  Can you see the foolishness in those verses?  Can you recognize the wisdom it takes to realize that some of these verses apply to you.  Are you willing to recognize the wise thing to do and apply it to your life?  Your foolish ways become harder and harder to stop the longer you wait. 

The very first verse illustrates this perfectly:

The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Are you tearing your life apart by not recognizing wisdom?

I’m praying for you.

Andy Cisneros

(originally posted here on August 15, 2017)

Reflection Questions

See Andy’s suggestions and questions in the last full paragraph.

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    You Do You! or ?

    Proverbs 14

    Proverbs 14 12 NIV.png

    “You do you!” This phrase is ubiquitous… I’ve seen it on social media, heard it on commercials,  and tween shows my daughter enjoys watching. I’ve even heard actual people say it directly to actual people. 🙂

    On the face of it, it’s a pretty positive and encouraging phrase.  Don’t let others define you. Do what you enjoy. Do what makes you happy! And that’s all great and wonderful…to a point. That point is the Holy Bible. You can totally do You if the You that you do is aligned with God’s word. The problem comes when your You goes with whatever you FEEL is right, rather than what you KNOW is scriptural.

    Here in Proverbs 14 (especially in verse 12) we are reminded that so many of the things, thoughts, and actions we think are right, actually lead to destruction.

    Proverbs 14:1 really hit me hard in this area. Unlike the wise woman building her house, I was letting my struggle with anger threaten mine. For a season, my anger was quick, hot, and in my mind, justified. I was right to be angry. I was being taken for granted, no one understood what I was going through, why was everything up to me???  I often felt the anger from my stomach up to my jaw.  Proverbs 14 repeatedly warns of the folly of anger (16, 17, 29) but I was choosing to follow my feelings over wisdom.

    I thought I was right…but only because of the grace of God and a forgiving family, my “rightness” did not lead to destruction.

    Everyone should evaluate their You. If doing You involves sin (Galatians 5:19-21), you must let that go. Christ goes even further to say that if we are to be his disciples, we must DENY ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him (Matthew 16:24).

    When looking to Godly wisdom, such as found in Proverbs 14, You will start to look less like you and more like Christ. That is true wisdom.

    So this song came out when I was 14 (1986). Having it tucked in my head has often helped me make choices to please God.

     

    God Pleaser by Petra

    So many voices telling me which way to go

    So many choices come from those who think they know

    There’s a way that seems right to a man

    But it only brings him death

    I want to go the way that leads to life

    Till I draw my dying breath

    Don’t want to be a man pleaser – I want to be a God pleaser

    I just want to have the wisdom to discern the two apart

    Don’t want to be a man pleaser – I want to be a God pleaser

    I just want to do the things that please the Father’s heart

    Some make a sacrifice and never let it show

    Some make a point of letting everybody know

    Some will live their lives as unto men

    And they have their reward

    I just want to do everything I do

    With all my heart unto the Lord

    I just want my life to glorify His Son

    To make my Father proud that I’m His child before I’m done

    No need to pat me on the back or stop to shake my hand

    I just want to hear my Father say “Well done, well done”

    I just want to hear my Father say “Well done”

     

    devotion by Maria Knowlton