Kristi Burchfiel

Generosity. In Proverbs 11:22-31 we see still more verses explaining wisdom and how to act with wisdom. One theme that becomes clear in these verses is the focus on generosity and how the wise are not hoarders. The people who have wisdom are also people who are very generous and give to others. God rewards generosity. God gives us all that we need, but often he gives us even more than we need so that we can find the joy in giving as well. God is generous, we are to be generous. Would others look at our life and describe us as generous? If not, what is one step you…

What is our motivation? In Proverbs 11:14-21, we read through several verses that contrast righteous motivations versus evil motivations. As we read through, we can clearly see that God honors the motivations behind the actions, not just the actions themselves. God sees our heart. God knows why we do the things that we do. If we are simply doing good things for our own self recognition, he sees and understands that we have evil and selfish intent. All those people who are seeking to follow him and are seeking to lead others to follow him, God sees that too. As we are going through our day, what is the driving…

Do we know how to keep our mouth shut? In Proverbs 11 we see more statements about the characteristics of wisdom. In verses 1-13 we see a lot said about when we speak and what we say. Do we know when to speak and when to remain silent? Can we be trusted with the confidence of others? If we cannot wait to tell everything we have seen or heard, we will lose credibility with those who speak to us. What we say influences our integrity greatly. How will our integrity be reflected today?

Are we the calm during the storm? In Proverbs 10:22-32 we see more contrast between the wise and the fool. In verse 25 it mentions that the wise have a firm foundation, but the wicked get destroyed by the storm. When the storms of life come on us, are we able to weather through them, or do we get sucked under and trampled?  If we are holding to the righteousness of God, we have a firm foundation on which to stand. We can be confident that even though the storm rages around us, our foundation is strong and sure. For the fool, they get destroyed by the storm. They don’t…

How much do you talk? In Proverbs 10:13-21, we read more about wisdom and the one verse that stands out to me here is verse 19 that says, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” Basically, if we’re talking a lot, we’re going to find it easier and easier to sin through what we say. We have all been in situations where we have allowed our tongues to run freely and we end up saying more than we should or offending people. Our words must come from a place that has been thought through and are a reflection of our relationship…

Two separate invitations. In Proverbs chapter 9, we see two identical invitations given by two very different women. We cannot accept both of them and the chapter lists exactly what each invitation wants. The invitations both desire to get the person to come over to them. Yet only wisdom promises to help and uphold God’s Word. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I’ve heard that described as loving what God loves and hating what He hates. Which invitation are we accepting? What will we draw unto our life as a result?

Wisdom is wise. That sort of sounds like something we should know, but if we knew it, we wouldn’t avoid wisdom like we do. God created wisdom and used her from the beginning of time. In Proverbs 8:22-36 we see that wisdom knew and helped God throughout creation. As we use wisdom, we have access to all the wisdom from the beginning of time. We need to know and use all that God has provided for us. Yet many of us run away from wisdom. Why? We need all the help we can get. We need God’s wisdom. Will we continue to pursue wisdom in all her ways? Will we…

Wisdom wants to be found. In Proverbs 8:1-21 we see wisdom speaking to us. What I find so amazing throughout this section of verses is that wisdom wants to be found. Wisdom isn’t hiding from people, sneaking around being unavailable. Wisdom is standing at the corner shouting, begging people to come to her. So often when we think about wisdom, we think about how rare it is to find someone with wisdom. Yet according to this, wisdom wants to be found and is desperately trying to get people’s attention so that they will seek and find wisdom and then use it in their lives. Are we seeking after wisdom? More…