Proverbs 18:1-24

Life is full of choices.  We make choices all day everyday about how we are going to live our lives and the path that we are going to follow.  There is a path that leads to destruction and a path that leads to great blessing.  There are wise choices and there are foolish choices.  Discernment is a key for us to be able to choose the right path, make the wise choices and find the path of blessing that God intends for us experience.  There are some characteristics that mark the wise choices and others that describe the foolish ones.

WISE COMMUNICATION WITH OTHERS: All wisdom does not rest within ourselves.  We desperately need the insight that others can give us in order to make wise choices in our lives.  Isolation will usually end up causing us to falter along the way because we lack sound judgment.  The foolish will talk before he thinks but the wise will always give great consideration to his words.  Our words represent great danger as well as great blessing depending on how we choose to use them.  When we use harsh words we stir up strife and will usually bring great harm to others and ourselves.  These thoughtless words lead to destruction of both our body and our soul.  It is so tempting to whisper gossip they seem like juicy little tidbits but they are very destructive.

WISE CONSIDERATION ABOUT OURSELVES: Pride is one of the most destructive choices that we can make as we build our character.  We must be very careful to guard our consideration of ourselves.  Our refuge must be in the Lord and not in our own strength.  We cannot trust in our own wealth or imagine that we have sufficient power to keep ourselves safe.  Pride will always take us down a path that ends in destruction.  When we have too high of an opinion of ourselves we will jump to conclusions that are not right without hearing both sides of and argument.  Pride is like a disease that eats at our soul and crushes our very spirit.  It is far more dangerous than any illness.


WISE COMPANIONSHIP WITH BROTHERS: Our companions and how we treat others is one of the most important choices we will ever make.  Peace in our relationships with those around us is a great blessing.  Easily our choice in a spouse is the most important companion apart from our relationship with God.  Our spouse should bring great delight to us and pleasure to the Lord.  When it comes to companions we should be careful not to invite too many people into that circle.  There is a balance that we must achieve.  Many companions can lead to much ruin whereas no companions can lead to destruction.  Without a doubt the most important companion that we can ever choose in the Lord.  He is always faithful and will be more of a blessing to us than even our closest brother.

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