Words of Wisdom Podcast

Yahweh God created us to experience deep emotions. But not all emotions are created equal. Some are more difficult to deal with than others. Anger and other agitated emotions can quickly lead us into different ways of thinking and acting. And when that happens, we may say and do things that we later regret. We need to be cautious about our emotions and control them, or they will control us. Illust...

Being “shrewd” or “clever” may not be a characteristic that many seek to grow in. But that is what it means to be “prudent.” We can develop our ability to look ahead and understand where things lead. Contrarily, a person could be content just following their own ideas and desires, and in the end, be misled and deceived. The great deception begins with our own—to be deceived is to deceive. Illustra...

A person might think that they can enjoy some benefit or personal gain through dishonest means as long as they don’t get caught. The problem is what might seem good in the moment will eventually sting in the end. Wrongdoing can taste “sweet” at first because of the immediate gratification it offers, but the bitter pain of its consequences will eventually find you, either now or in the future. Illu...

Children watch the behavior and life patterns of their parents and innately model their life after them. If the teaching of the parents is godly and their lives exhibit wisdom, their children will see that and learn how to live with wisdom in their life as well. But parents also must explicitly teach their children about wisdom in hopes that the children listen to and hold onto their words. Illust...

We all need money to live. With the ever-increasing cost of living and the invention of so many new things to make life better, getting rich can sound like a good plan to solve that problem and acquire everything we want. But wealth is deceptive in that it is inherently unstable. One day we can have it, and the next day it vanishes. Illustration: Sean Russell’s disastrous 2017 investment in bitcoi...

Emotions are a powerful part of who God created us to be. He did not intend for us to be controlled by our emotions– we must learn to master them. Without self-control, we become dangerous and unpredictable. We don’t often make good decisions when emotionally embroiled, tending to hurt others by our words and actions because out of control emotions tend to result in foolish choices. Illustration:...

Sometimes we only learn our lesson after the consequences of our actions catch up with us. Why is it so hard at times to see the pain down the road that our actions will cause? Foolishness causes a wide range of damage to our lives, and one of the areas it can drastically affect is our finances. Being enticed by sin and making poor choices, especially when it comes to sexual conduct, can have far...

When life knocks us down, it may seem impossible to stand back up and keep going. But we don’t have to face our struggles in life in our own power. The person who submits to Yahweh will never walk through life alone, and when adversity knocks them down, they can rise again; disaster doesn’t have to end in our defeat; we can get back up again! Illustration: Michael (“Eddie the Eagle”) Edwards and h...

Everyone needs friends. Life is better being in relationship with people, and friendships are an important part of that. But not all friendships are equal. Some friends are better friends than others, and some friends are merely social. However, true friends and will stand by your side. What distinguishes one friend from the next and why does it matter? Wisdom reveals that knowing who your true fr...

People often strive for satisfaction in life through money, status, family, or other life accomplishments so they can live at ease and not worry about life any longer. But there is only one thing that can give us true life, rest, and contentment. If we seek to attain the fullness of life on our own, we will be left with only disappointment and heartache because we can’t do it ourselves. Illustrati...

Living wisely or foolishly has long-reaching effects. We experience many consequences of our choices in our present life. But some consequences will not become known until in the future. Wisdom provides health, success, and well-being, but more importantly, long life now, and everlasting life in God’s future kingdom. While the wicked might seem to prosper now, there is a day coming where they will...

We all desire to be spoken well of but we must be careful that we don’t get caught in the trap of flattery from others where we might then make poor choices that we normally wouldn’t. Sexual sin (like adultery) rarely happens suddenly. The seductiveness of flattery is that it works little by little over time until a person decides to make a foolish decision that they will regret the rest of their...

The world is filled with people who are seeking ways to take advantage of others. Wisdom will protect those who listen to her from all manner of evil perversions, twisted paths, and devious ways of the wicked. Wisdom is a guardian who will provide safety from the unrighteous schemes of evil people who would gladly exploit others for their own benefit. Illustration: Charles C. Parker, a New York co...

Wisdom is a multi-faceted reality that can be described as consisting of understanding, insight, discretion, discernment, and many other important qualities. The practical value of wisdom is that it safeguards us against making bad choices and suffering the consequences of foolish mistakes. In this way, wisdom is our protector and guardian, watching over us and helping us, if we will let wisdom co...

The Book of Proverbs is filled with wisdom, but where does that wisdom come from? Many of the proverbs are the words of Solomon, but their origin lies with Yahweh who is the source of all wisdom. If we desire to have true wisdom in life, then we must seek Yahweh with all our heart and ask him to give us wisdom so that we can live in righteousness, integrity, and humility. Illustration: King Solomo...

We desire many things in life, and we often expend much energy striving to attain them. But sometimes we don’t put forth the effort that is needed, or we don’t stick with it long enough to see the results. We must not have that sort of short-sighted attitude or half-hearted effort in our search for wisdom. Wisdom is like a crown jewel or the finest silver—wisdom is the greatest treasure. The quest...

In a succinct and powerful statement, Lady Wisdom exhorts listeners to “Leave their naïve ways and live.” We all have areas of foolishness in our lives, but sometimes changing our habits and ways of thinking is difficult and takes time and determination. But walking on the road of understanding will yield a life that cannot be achieved with foolishness. We must turn away from and leave it behind i...

Lady Wisdom is a personification of the attribute of wisdom. She invites people to come and dine with her as a metaphor for listening to her and learning from her. In her presence, her guests can experience many wonderful and satisfying things that show how gracious and beneficial she is to those who accept her invitation. If this is a picture of what life is like by having wisdom, then we should...

The voice of Lady Folly tempts people to see sweet and pleasant things in what is mischievous and rebellious. Her allure is in the excitement and thrill of getting away with what we want. But she doesn’t tell you that her rewards are superficial and temporary, and they often come with drastic consequences. She calls out to people, inviting them to join her in secret pleasures, but little do they k...

Lady Folly is a personification of the attribute of foolishness. She imitates wisdom as she tries to seduce people to listen to her, offering enticing and appealing things to lure naïve people into her trap. But that is like any replica, it is designed to look like the authentic. If we know what to look for and if we examine where the road leads, we can easily spot that Lady Folly is a complete fr...

We might think of foolishness as a relatively harmless characteristic of a person, but the Book of Proverbs thinks much differently about it. Foolishness is very harmful and destructive. We might not immediately perceive the wickedness in foolishness, but its consequences will come to bite everyone who is involved. Danger abounds when encounter a fool in their foolishness, so we must be wise and c...

What sort of person would you call upon if you were in a pinch and needed help? Should what you know regarding a person’s character affect your degree of confidence in them? Wisdom is about having discernment, and therefore, knowing someone’s character and established pattern of behavior is important for knowing whether it is wise to put your confidence in them. If a person isn’t a “faithful” indi...

Justice is something that Yahweh God cares deeply about. Judicial systems are set up to maintain justice, but they are flawed. Sometimes the innocent are convicted while the guilty go free. In Yahweh’s eyes, any perversion of justice is an abomination. He is disgusted when wrong is called right, and right is called wrong. How can we strive to live with justice in our lives with the fear of Yahweh?...

What Proverbs teaches us is that our attitude and way of thinking can send us down two drastically different roads. One ends in disaster, and the other in glory. Pride does bring glory and honor; rather, humility is what does that. When we live with humility, willing to submit to Yahweh and live with the fear of Yahweh, then he will exalt us and give us glory and honor. Illustration: Aesop’s Fable...

Pride makes us think more highly of ourselves than we should, and it produces in us a sense of overconfidence and self-importance. When we are full of pride, we can lose sight of thinking things through clearly and sensibly. Thus, as a consequence, pride leads us to experience disaster in our lives. We are warned against succumbing to the temptation of pride because the consequence can be very hig...