God wants us to be wise. He has given us His Holy Spirit. Pursuing beauty at the expense of His wisdom is like …. Well, we get it. No point in it at all.
“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful face on an empty head.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:22)
Our focus for work in God’s world is to work as if we are working for God. That is good work. It gets us solid pay.
“Bad work gets paid with a bad check; good work gets solid pay.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:18)
Solomon nailed this one dead on. Generosity begets generosity. The more you give the more you like to give. It just gets better and better.
Being stingy gets you nowhere.
“The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:24)
Sometimes it seems like doing the right thing is not being rewarded. Solomon reminds us this isn’t true. God is God and there will be a day of judgement. God is the judge. We must trust him. We must be loyal to Him. He will be loyal to us. We will triumph in His power.
We can count on it because we can count on God. End of story.
“Count on this: The wicked won’t get off scot-free, and God’s loyal people will triumph.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:21)
There is a way to live and there is a way to die. Living comes from aligning myself with God and His loyal servants. Dieing comes from a phantom life of evil and their friends. Wisdom knows the difference.
I will take a stand with God’s faithful. That is the way to life. That is the way of Wisdom.
“Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live, or chase after phantoms of evil and die.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:19)
Integrity rules in God’s world. Jesus knows this. He demands we do the same. There are some things God can’t stand. Deceiving people we know is huge on the list. What is integrity? When we align with what God wants and believe it in our hears, think about it in our minds, talk about it and then do it!! That is alignment in God’s world.
“God can’t stand deceivers, but oh how he relishes integrity.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:20)
Now here is some good advice. Before doing business, we ought to take some time to get to know the people behind the deal. Who are they? What do they value?
It is not all about the deal.
“Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned; if you keep a cool head, you’ll avoid rash bargains.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:15)
We all need direction. Our vision is always limited. Having trusted advisors makes a difference.
Who am I listening to? Are they wise?
Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances. ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:14)
Jesus wants us to be people of integrity. Everyone we know needs to be able to trust us completely. It is important in His world that we are cabable of maintaining a confidence. Any other way is not the way of wisdom.
A gadabout gossip can’t be trusted with a secret, but someone of integrity won’t violate a confidence. ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:13)
Speaking ill of others, whether it is true or not, is just not God’s way. Jesus summed it up well, Judge not so that you will be not judged yourself.
Wisdom says that it makes good sense to be discrete.
“Mean-spirited slander is heartless; quiet discretion accompanies good sense.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:12)
We can be a blessing to our cities, towns, states and country. When we are right in God, we can bless and God will honor what we have to say. We have God’s power in us.
“When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes; evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:11)
The most difficult thing in life to control is our tongue. What we say makes a difference. With God’s Holy Spirit in us we can be wise. Otherwise we spread destruction everytime we speak.
May we speak the common sense of God and be preserved.
“The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction; the common sense of the godly preserves them.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:9)
We are “made good” by Jesus. He alone can do this. Because of that, we are saved from a whole bunch of trouble. Without Jesus, we run smack into to it. No avoiding that.
“A good person is saved from much trouble; a bad person runs straight into it.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:8)
Jesus is straight with us. The way is not easy. He says it over and over. Unfortunately, many in the church want us believe otherwise. Solomon knew otherwise as well.
We need to vigilant. We need to follow the narrow way. We need to take up the way of sacrifice. We need to leave everything behind for Jesus, our Messiah.
“If good people barely make it, what’s in store for the bad!” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:31)
Good character is important. Doing the right thing, God’s thing, makes all the difference. Solomon’s dad understood that following what God said is important. Solomon learned that from his Dad.
Looking for a reward in this world and the next? Get God’s good character. Get it now.
Good character is the best insurance; crooks get trapped in their sinful lust. ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:6)
My dad always said it is easier to tell the truth than to lie. His logic was that a liar has to remember who he said what to and that is tough to do. Eventually you will get caught. He had a point. He was a wise man.
The easiest life to live is the right life. God gives us the power as a part of His new plan for us. Jesus shows us the way.
“Moral character makes for smooth traveling; an evil life is a hard life.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:5)
God’s way is the way of integrity. It is core to who He is and it is core to who He wants us to be. The question we ask ourselves is “What does God want me to do?” The answer is the answer of integrity. Anything else leads to our ruin.
“The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin..” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:3)
Ah, now there we go. Down to earth people. We all seem to admire them. But is that said of me? Am I down to earth?
May it be so.
“The stuck-up fall flat on their faces, but down-to-earth people stand firm.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:2)
When it comes to business, we need to always be aboveboard and true to our word. We should always see our approach as one that Jesus would love and be proud of. I remember that one day Jesus chased the business people out of the temple (church) because of their dishonest approach.
May all I do in my business approach be aboveboard.
“God hates cheating in the marketplace; he loves it when business is aboveboard.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:1)
We think that money will save us. If we get in a tight spot, we know we can whip out our credit cards. God was willing to give King Solomon anything he wanted. He asked for wisdon. Despite his wealth as King, he knew that money isn’t the answer. God is the answer. He will see us through when everything falls apart. It is interesting that on our money it says “In God we trust”. Amen.
“A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart, but a principled life can stand up to the worst..” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:4)
” I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” ~~King Solomon
Man, this is tough. Now Solomon was an amazingly wise man. So this is good advice. Here are three steps. It is interesting in that Solomon links not reacting with forgiving and forgeting. It is much easier to not react if it is the “first time” someone says something we don’t like. Forgeting makes that happen.
1. Don’t react and say it.
2. Forgive.
3. Forget
“Smart people know how to hold their tongue; their grandeur is to forgive and forget.” ~Solomon (Proverbs 11)
May I hold my tongue. Really Lord. Help me. Make me smart. Amen.
