Putting the I into WISDOM
The Christians who have most influenced me for good have had a fully functional familiarity with the book of Proverbs. They were (and are) able to take their considerable knowledge and apply it to their lives, providing both godly examples and godly advice. Join with me as each of us endeavors to put the I into WISDOM. Let us seek to exemplify God’s wisdom in our daily lives. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We will, God willing, return to the book of Proverbs, perhaps in a few weeks (although the weeks do get away from me when I am writing). We have been studying wisdom, particularly as it relates to speech. It is convicting to consider the stern warnings in Proverbs about negative words. We must not lie (12:19, 22); in fact, lying demonstrates a heart of hatred (26:28a – “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it”). Furthermore, we must not flatter (26:23, 28b; 29:5); we all like to be told good things about ourselves, but flattery is really just a subtle form of lying that appeals to our core problem – pride. Moreover, we must not slander (11:9; 16:28; 26:20); such speech poisons relationships and assassinates character. It is sobering to see that these sins of speech were spewed at our Savior (Matthew 26:59-61 – lying; Matthew 22:15-18 – flattery; Matthew 9:10-11 – slander). We must not be like the unwise enemies of Jesus Christ. Let us eschew the example of evildoers and instead follow Him.