1) No one will know.

How often in life have I heard that one?  ‘It’s not a big deal, no one will find out.’  I always tell them that there are two that will know–Almighty God and myself, and those are the only two that matter.

“Better a poor man who lives with integrity than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool” (Prov 19:1).

2) Zeal and knowledge need one another.

A lot of zeal out there these days for every latest issue under the sun.  As soon as an issue strikes, zeal springs forth.  But zeal needs knowledge as zeal will always run out.

“Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins” (Prov 19:2).

3) Protecting good sense.

“The one who acquires good sense loves himself; one who safeguards understanding finds success” (Prov 19:8)

4) Patience and offense

We in the US have the worst level of patience probably on the planet.  And offense?  That comes to all of us around the globe.  So here’s a convicting verse:

“A person’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense” (v. 11).

Good words for us all.  Slow down and get insight before taking action.  And sometimes we just need to overlook an offense.

5) Wives–the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

“a wife’s nagging is an endless dripping” (v. 13).

Nagging embitters a man’s soul.  (And lack of initiative from a man in a woman’s soul).

“a sensible wife is from the LORD” (v. 14).

So does that mean if a man is married to a wife who is not sensible that she is not of the LORD?  No, it’s just saying that a good wife is a good gift to a man.

6) Kindness to the poor

It’s easy to judge the poor and not be kind, but sometimes there are circumstances we do not know or understand.

“Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will give a reward to the lender” (v. 17).

It’s something I’ve observed in my time on this earth.  God has a special place in his heart for not just the poor, but for those who help the poor.  He seems to often give them favor.