Proverbs 23: Do Not Envy Sinners

Sometimes we look at other people who are living life for themselves and we envy them. We think that they get to do whatever they want. It appears as if they are having fun and doing whatever they want. Their fun is short lived though. We can envy sinners quite easily. We can envy the rich thief or the individual who seems like he is having a lot of fun doing bad things or we can find out satisfaction in our God. Verse 17 of this chapter says:
“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all day.”
It is so easy to get into the mindset that what they have is better than what you have, but this simply is not true. God is good, and he not withholding something good from you, but merely showing you what is best. There are times when Vera may reach for an electrical outlet and I will tell her no. She may or may not listen, and if she does not listen I pick her up and move her. Often she cries when I do this. She thinks I am withholding something good from her. I am not. I am protecting her. It is the same way with the commands of God. God created us. He knows what is best.

Proverbs 9: How Do You Respond to Correction?

This is a very important question that we need to all answer.  How do you respond to correction?

I know in the past there have been times when I found it difficult to be corrected.  I was prideful, and I was wrong, and ultimately I needed to be corrected.

If you find that it is difficult for you to listen to correction then you are not wise.  This is not to say that every single time you are corrected the other person is right, but you should consider what the person is saying, and make the necessary changes if he is right.

Listen to what Solomon says in this chapter in verse 8: “Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you;
reprove a wise person and he will love you.”

If you try to correct a mocker, an unwise person who preys on others, they will not be happy with you and will actually hate you. If you reprove a wise person, he will appreciate it.

Are you a mocker or are you a wise person? How do you respond to correction?

Proverbs 24: Authority

Do you have trouble respecting authority?

American teenagers are sometimes (sadly) known for disrespecting authority. Are you disrespectful of your parents, police officers, or teachers?

There may be peer pressure to be disrespectful because some people think it's cool to be disrespectful. Well, one thing we see in the book of Proverbs is an encouragement to respect God’s authority and the authority of the King. We must remember that God is sovereign ,and for this reason we must respect the laws of the land and do as they say.

Verses 21-22 say, "My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?"

Judgement awaits us if we do not listen to the authorities God has placed over our lives.  Let us remember that.

Proverbs 13: Parental Discipline

Some of you think your parents hate you when they punish you. You may feel like they are being hard or mean.

But they do not hate you. They are trying to raise you rightly, and they discipline you because they love you.

Listen to verse 24: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”

Discipline causes you to become a different person. It helps you mature, and to learn from your past mistakes so you live life better.

Thank your parents for the discipline they have given you, and try to learn from each instance what you did wrong so that you can do better in the future.

Proverbs 12: Being Stupid

Do you remember getting into arguments when you were a kid? Maybe you argued about which Pokemon was betters (the answer is Zapdos), or which member of a boy band was the cutest, or maybe which Star Trek series was the best (okay, that last one was just me).

After you had been arguing for a while, it would turn ugly and you would start calling each other names. Finally someone would proclaim, “Well, you're just stupid.” (People in the background would be like “Oohhh, no, he didn’t!”)

The only response to “Well, you're just stupid” was to call the other person stupid as well. Bonus points if it could be done in a clever manner: “I'm rubber you’re glue....”

The point is, calling someone stupid is no joke. It is a serious matter. It hurts to be called stupid, and if the Bible calls us stupid we should probably change our ways.

Verse 1 says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.”

If you respond to correction well, you love knowledge. But, if you hate it when someone corrects you when you do something wrong, then you are stupid, according to the Bible.

Proverbs 9: How Do You Respond to Correction?

We all mess up a lot. People tend to see this, and our friends or our parents will correct us and help us. We have two ways we can respond to this correction. We can get angry, or we can understand that it was done in love, and choose to change our ways.


Verse 8 says, "Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you."


If we are scoffers and fools, we will respond angrily to correction. If we are wise, we will respond with love to that person. We need to strive to accept correction in love and to act wisely in this manner. 

Often when someone points out something that we have done wrong they are doing this because they love us, so let us respond by changing our lives, not fighting them.