Proverbs 31:10-31 speaks of the "virtuous wife" that men should strive to find, and women to strive to live up to. This chapter speaks both to the man and the woman. For men, not only should we look for such a woman, but we need to pursue our relationship with God just as much and live up to our standard so that we are worthy of such a woman. For women, we should strive to live up such a description and live a life fearing the Lord and pursuing Him with honor. We breakdown what these standards are the even more how we should respond to such text.
Proverbs 30:5-6 says "Every word of God proves true, he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” With our never-ending access to the internet and different ideas, we are constantly being fed from the world and its "truth." This often bleeds into our worldview and we start to add, change, or ignore Scripture. We break down the dangers of such a practice and how we can discern better through the lens of Christ.
Proverbs 29:11 says, 'A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."
So is it wrong for us to vent to others?
Or is there a deeper lesson to learn about the truth of venting and its benefits and dangers? In this episode, we explore both sides and approach the concept of venting with some Scripture and guidance that hopefully will give you some better direction the next time you vent.
“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” Proverbs 28:6
This episode we break down what the heck this word "integrity" means and explore the importance of it in Scripture. We have become master marketers of ourselves via social media and have trained ourselves to live separate lives in secrecy. The Scriptures tell us that we must choose integrity, we must choose to be honest with ourselves, and seek to be the same person publicly and privately.
Proverbs 27:5-6 says “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” Calling out our friends can be so terrifying and nerve-wracking. It's not something we teach or talk about very often. Yet, it's critical to the body of believers that we hold each other accountable and call each other out in loving ways that redirect us to the cross. This episode breaks down some reasons why we may struggle and then a step-by-step analysis on how to know when to rebuke.
Proverbs 26: 12 says "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” It's pretty common for us to believe we are wise in our own eyes, but there can be some serious danger to such thinking. Claiming to be wise only puts us lower than the fool and closed off to correction, learning, and growing simply because of our pride...
Proverbs 25:28 says "A man with no self-control is like a city broken into and without walls." If the city has no walls, what do you think that communicates to neighboring enemies who see it? Of course, they see it as an opportunity to attack, they see a weakness. The same goes for us. The enemy is prowling like a lion looking for someone to devour. If he sees our walls of self-control are down in one area, he will bring calamity to many more areas of our lives. If we can practice self-control across all areas of our lives, we will find more success than we imagine in our battle against the flesh.
Proverbs 24: 17-18 says "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. Lest the Lord see it and be displeased and turn away his anger from him." Politics season is on the rise with mid-terms coming up in a couple months. That means lot's of bashing and lots of image destroying for both political parties. If Scripture tells us not to celebrate our enemies losses and love them instead, then we should head into this new season with a new heart posture towards those who we consider "enemies."
Proverbs 23:6-8 says "Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words." Do you consider yourself to be a sharing person? Do you typically share when you can? Or do you only share when prompted or pressured? It can be really easy for us to selfishly hold on to what is ours, but the more we do, the more we hold ourselves back from opportunities to bless others.
Verse 13 says " The sluggard says "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets." In other words, the lazy person will make the craziest excuses for why not to do something. Usually we point fingers and think of others who do that, but in actuality, may find ourselves blind to the very excuses we make. This episode will challenge you to think about your goals, your dreams, and the things that get in the way of you getting there.
Proverbs 21:11 says 'The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ' When we rush into things for the sake of impatience and a desire to see results, it almost always works against us. Not only can it prolong the process, but sometimes even be destructive. All of us have goals towards something, the question is, are you patient with the process?
Verse 11 says "Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright." If you were put on trial for claiming to be a Christian, and your actions had to testify for you, would you be proven guilty (Christian) or innocent (not Christian). Our actions speak so much louder than words and we live in a world now where the term Christian means almost nothing to most people. Let's bring power and meaning back to the name of "Little Christ" (Christian).
Verse 11 tells us "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is to his glory to overlook an offense" We are notorious for holding grudges and being hypersensitive to everything around us. Unfortunately, culture feeds this kind of mindset and it pushes us away from what God desires. The Lord desires we overlook offenses and choose to forgive others when they wrong us. It's no easy path, but what would love even be if not for the hardest times where we must choose to love?
Proverbs 18:13 tells us "If one gives an answer before he hears, it is to his folly and shame." We are SO quick to react to everything we see and hear or even to give response/our opinion without knowing all the details. As believers, we must get better at being responsive and not reactive. That means holding back our tongue first and gaining understanding rather than just sharing our opinion (Proverbs 18:2).
Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Are you a friend who loves at all times? Or have we fixated ourselves on a conditional love that forfeits the kind of love Christ calls us to? This chapter breaks down what it means to love a friend well and practical tips on how we can get better at being a friend to others.
Proverbs 16:9 tells us "A mans heart plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps" and Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established." Too often we immobilize ourselves in fear that we are making decisions that go against God's will and plan for our life. Truth is, you know His will (by His word) and you can make your own plans, and as you commit them to the Lord, He will establish them.
Proverbs 15:22 say "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers, they succeed."
In order to seek out advisers, we have to first have plans. If we don't have any plans or goals in life, there's no reason to seek advice, right? Well, when we do have plans and goals, the question then follows, who are you going to get advice from? There are dangers to seeking counsel from the wrong people, and we have to be aware of it for our own good.
Shop our apparel here:
Learn more about who we are and all that we do here
Full Podcast Hub:
https://anchor.fm/askuswhypodcast
Instagram:
Our shop instagram:
Check out our resource page for more discipling!
Sign up for our emails on deals and everything Ask Us Why!
https://www.askuswhy.org/project-315
Join Our Discord!
Proverbs 14:4 says "Where there is no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops comes from the strength of the ox." If you want to have the beautiful "Pinterest" perfect life, then never step outside of your home and you will never find mess. Or... embrace the mess that comes with investment, work, sacrifice, time, risk, mistakes and everything else, and find abundance in reward on the other side of it.
Proverbs 13:3 says "' Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin." Some studies suggest we can speak an average of 16,000 words per day. If that is even remotely true, imagine how much life we are missing out on because of the rash, dumb, sinful things we say without thinking. This chapter has such an awesome takeaway that should get us in the right mindset to speak well and guard our mouths when needed.
Proverbs 12:25 says "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." We've talked about it before but there is so much anxiety in this country right now that it's not even funny. People are weighed down by the things of this world, even Christians (yep, we aren't indestructible), and we have an opportunity to help this problem. Listen in on our takeaway today to see just how we can start to put a dent in this epidemic.