Proverbs 14
Proverbs 14
When my wife and I were engaged and planning our wedding, she asked me repeatedly to cut down my side of the guest list. Asking me who would be uninvited to the most joyous occasion of my life was like asking which fingers or toes I could do without—sure, I don’t have to have all of them, but it sure hurts to think of which ones won’t be there.
Writing a Jumpstart on the middle chapters of Proverbs brings back that old, “but they’re all great,” feeling. Below are several proverbs that stood out to me in chapter 14.
1 The wisest of women builds her house,
but folly with her own hands tears it down.
I think “house” here could be better understood as “household.” Proverbs 31 speaks to the immeasurable value of a wise woman. Here too we see the power of a wise woman, a builder or destroyer—with nothing in between.
3 By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
A fool is careless of his words and it brings his own punishment. The Bible elsewhere states that each person will give an account for every careless word (Matt 12:36). The mouth reflects a person’s heart—as Tim would sometimes say, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
I love this! Life is messy. You can have cleanliness in your life, but you’re not living. Oxen are a symbol for work and work brings provision. If you’re going to live with ox, you’ll have to muck out the stalls.
20 The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
Wealth is a blessing and a curse. A rich man will always have trouble sorting out those who care for him or just want a piece of the pie.
23 In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Do something. Talking, dreaming, and planning without execution is folly. Even if you fail, you learn. Doing something instead of nothing is always profitable.
24 The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
I love the second part of the proverb, the only thing folly produces is more folly. Wisdom brings something different, something valuable.
28 In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
A good leader is worthy of honor. However, a leader must not forget the value of people. A leader is only a leader when someone is following.
Verse 12 sums up why studying these proverbs are so important—“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” There are so many lifetime level truths to bury deep in our hearts.
What proverb stands out to you and why? Comment below.
By: Tyler Short
When my wife and I were engaged and planning our wedding, she asked me repeatedly to cut down my side of the guest list. Asking me who would be uninvited to the most joyous occasion of my life was like asking which fingers or toes I could do without—sure, I don’t have to have all of them, but it sure hurts to think of which ones won’t be there.
Writing a Jumpstart on the middle chapters of Proverbs brings back that old, “but they’re all great,” feeling. Below are several proverbs that stood out to me in chapter 14.
1 The wisest of women builds her house,
but folly with her own hands tears it down.
I think “house” here could be better understood as “household.” Proverbs 31 speaks to the immeasurable value of a wise woman. Here too we see the power of a wise woman, a builder or destroyer—with nothing in between.
3 By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
A fool is careless of his words and it brings his own punishment. The Bible elsewhere states that each person will give an account for every careless word (Matt 12:36). The mouth reflects a person’s heart—as Tim would sometimes say, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
I love this! Life is messy. You can have cleanliness in your life, but you’re not living. Oxen are a symbol for work and work brings provision. If you’re going to live with ox, you’ll have to muck out the stalls.
20 The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
Wealth is a blessing and a curse. A rich man will always have trouble sorting out those who care for him or just want a piece of the pie.
23 In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Do something. Talking, dreaming, and planning without execution is folly. Even if you fail, you learn. Doing something instead of nothing is always profitable.
24 The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
I love the second part of the proverb, the only thing folly produces is more folly. Wisdom brings something different, something valuable.
28 In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
A good leader is worthy of honor. However, a leader must not forget the value of people. A leader is only a leader when someone is following.
Verse 12 sums up why studying these proverbs are so important—“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” There are so many lifetime level truths to bury deep in our hearts.
What proverb stands out to you and why? Comment below.
By: Tyler Short
1 Comment
Proverbs 14:23 Hard work leads to profit and actions are moving pieces in the right directions but to sit around and talk is lips moving but nothing being done hear people say if I win the lottery just had a million dollars!! Well there are ways we can make our money work for us and not waste it on scratch tickets or lottery tickets. Just 25 dollars a month in a Roth IRA is 300 a year and depending on interest rates and then we save 1500 in five years pile on compound interest and that could be up to 2500 to 3000 depending on how the interest rates are going. Always worth saving what we can when we can hard work paying off. Instead of talking about a million find ways to work for it guaranteed you will appreciate it more than if you win it or it's just handed to you.