Today’s passage: Proverbs 19
Helpful thoughts:
- Ignorance is not bliss (Verse 2).
- When a kind person has wealth, they will likely share it. When a lazy person becomes poor, others will tire of continually bailing them out.
- Verse 16 uses contrast. To despise your ways is to be careless or reckless. Keeping commandments is something we do on purpose. If we simply rely on how we feel at any given moment, things will not go well.
- Parents, be encouraged; Discipline your children for their own good. It is hard. It is tiring. Be diligent and persevere. Love them.
Questions to consider:
- Compare and contrast verse 13 and 14. What can we learn from these verses about the family?
- What can verse 20 teach us about the nature of wisdom and its fruits? Is wisdom something we just have all of a sudden…or is it the result of continual learning, application, and growth?
- Which proverbs stuck out the most to you? How can you put it into practice today?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for giving us life through Christ! When/If ever we are unsatisfied in this life, may we know it is because we have valued something else more than what you have already given us (Verse 23). May we come back to your word to hear from you, listen to your counsel, and be told of your great wisdom and love. May we be a hard working people. Willing to spend our efforts and talents…and our spiritual gifts for your glory and the benefit of others. Love them as you have first loved us. And may this love be expressed toward our children as well. Father, thank you for your loving discipline. You are our good Father and you watch us and work in us to conform us to Christ. I pray that the parents in our church would love their children in the same way. Give us grace to persevere and point our children to you. Please Lord, give them new hearts and a desire to follow hard after you and give us wisdom as we train up this next generation.