Message: Finding Wisdom
Date: January 5, 2014
Location: Savannah Christian Church
I. Most of us look back on our lives and realize that as we get older we tend to get wiser... but not always.
You cannot separate fools from their foolishness even if you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle - Proverbs 27:22
II. How do we actually learn anything?
1. The hard way: through personal experience
A. This is the school of hard knocks.
A. This is the school of hard knocks.
B. Two huge drawbacks:
1. No guarantees of learning anything.
2. A promise of great pain.
2. The easy way: through the experience of others.
III. Thinking wisely
1. Knowledge is the accumulation and assimilation of information
2. Wisdom is the appropriate and timely application of knowledge.
3. A key but elusive concept: cause and effect.
A. None of us want to forfeit our right to choose but we are quick to abdicate our responsibility
for the outcome that result from our actions.
Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who sleeps with another man's wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. Proverbs 6:27–29
B. You get what you got when you do what you did!
IV. How to make wise decisions
1. Ask God for wisdom
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the holy one results in good judgment. Proverbs 9:10
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he would give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5
Wisdom shouts in the streets, she cries out in the public square. She cries to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: "how long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? Come and listen to my counsel. I'll share my heart with you and make you wise. Proverbs 1:20–23
2. Read the Bible everyday
Oh how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws. Psalm 119:97–99
These are the Proverbs of Solomon, son of Davidson, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. Proverbs 1:1–4
3. Let a few people into my heart deeply.
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9
4. Use multiple counselors in my decision-making.
Without wise leadership, a nation fails; there is safety in having many advisers. Proverbs 11:14
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success. Proverbs 15:22
5. Keep a record of my life lessons
Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson Proverbs 24:32
Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all of these things. 2 Timothy 2:7
