Words To Live By

Proverbs 1:1-7

Words to Live By

Wisdom is defined as the ability to use knowledge in the right way

Ill - Pithy Proverbs for Today

A skeptic is a person who, when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it’s a forgery.

A successful marriage isn’t finding the right person -- it’s being the right person.

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.

God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.

It’s all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.

It isn’t difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill -- just add a little dirt.

Some folks wear their halos much too tight.

Some marriages are made in heaven, but they ALL have to be maintained on earth.

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up.

Standing in the middle of the road is dangerous. You will get knocked down by the traffic from both ways.

The best way to get even is to forget.

The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.

The tongue must be heavy indeed, because so few people can hold it.

To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you.

Too many people offer God prayers, with claw marks all over them.

Words are windows to the heart.

You’ll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

A turtle on on a fencepost didn’t get there by himself.

You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is still alive!

(Authors note - I did not use all of these)

As we examine God’s Word we see that God gave Solomon great wisdom. Being the king of Israel and King David’s son, wisdom still only comes through God. Pedigree won’t attain it. Still, one wonders how much wisdom Solomon exhibited as he had 700 wives & 300 concubines....& 1000 mother-in-laws!!!

The first type of wisdom God gives us is

Practical wisdom (2)

This type of wisdom gives us 3 things.

It gives us direction.

It gives us discipline.

It gives us discernment.

Wisdom is practical in everyday decisions. Heres a look at 3 churches who used ’wisdom’ in resolving a problem.

Ill – New Members in Church

A small town had three churches: Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist. All three had a serious problem with squirrels in the church. Each church in its own fashion had a meeting to deal with the problem. The Presbyterians decided that it was predestined that squirrels be in the church and that they would just have to live with them. The Methodists decided they should deal with the squirrels lovingly in the style of Charles Wesley. They humanely trapped them and released them in a park at the edge of town. Within 3 days, they were all back in the church.

The Baptists had the best solution. They voted the squirrels in as members.

Now they only see them at Christmas and Easter.

A second type of wisdom is

Intellectual wisdom (3-4)

This wisdom we receive from God

Notice the three aspects in what we receive...

Justice – is defined as doing what is right

Judgement – is described as making the right decision

Equity – is determined to be the right principles to guide us

A second part of intellectual wisdom is

to relay to the simple and naive

These three aspects are...

Prudence – use wisdom in what we do

Knowledge – information to act upon

Discretion - thoughtfulness to others

Christians should exercise some intellectual wisdom when ministering to others.

Ill – Atheist Admires Christian Service After Hurricane Katrina

"It ought to be possible to live a Christian life without being a Christian," laments Roy Hattersley, a columnist for the U.K. Guardian. An outspoken atheist, Hattersley came to this conclusion after watching the Salvation Army lead several other faith-based organizations in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina.

"Notable by their absence," he says, were "teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers’ clubs, and atheists’ associations—the sort of people who scoff at religion’s intellectual absurdity." According to Hattersley, it is an unavoidable conclusion that Christians "are the people most likely to take the risks and make the sacrifices involved in helping others."

Hattersley also notes that this pattern of behavior goes beyond disaster relief:

Civilized people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags, and—probably most difficult of all—argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment.