Wisdom Vs. Foolishness

Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
~Proverbs 10:23

What you find amusing, interesting, and entertaining speaks volumes about your character. Here are just a few examples:

• What do you find yourself laughing at? 
• What kinds of movies/books are you drawn to?
• Who do you like to associate with, and why? Is it because they keep you accountable, or because you can get away with foolishness and evil without being "judged"? (Keep in mind that the only people who use that word are the ones whose consciences are being eaten away at, and they don't want anyone to tell them they're doing anything wrong.)
• How do you use your time on the internet? Would you be okay with your parents (wife, husband, siblings, fill in the blank) knowing all your web history?
• What does your everyday speech consist of? Gossip? Crassness? Impurity? Slander? (All these elements can appear in extremely subtle forms, unless you're deeply and consistently in tune with God's Word.)

Instead, we must take pleasure in, and strive after, wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom. (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7) You can't have one without the other. Just like you can't have a garden without having seeds first. If you don't have the Word deeply planted in you, you won't bear good fruit.

Here's the question: is wisdom a pleasure to you, or is it a pain in the neck, so to say? Does it attract you, or does it annoy you?

Look carefully at what grabs your interest, and examine it: does it flirt with foolishness, worldliness and evil? Or is it full of wisdom and understanding?
Are you loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? (Mark 12:30) For (possibly unnecessary) clarification, if you only "love" Him with a small section of your mind, thinking about God sometimes, and the rest of the time filling your head with impure thoughts and images unrepentantly, that is NOT loving God.

Here's the good news: God can take and old, gross plot of dirt and turn it into something beautiful and full of good fruit. Let's pursue wisdom together, and see how God uses our lives for His glory.

What Does "Dying to Self" Mean?

          I think I am learning. Well, a very small portion of it, anyway.

     

          Lately I've been noticing how selfish many of my habitual, every-day motives are. I think of myself more than I ought. More often than not, I value my own will and (self-determined) well-being more than I value those of others around me. The other day, God opened my heart to how ridiculous some of my actions and reactions are.      For example...

          Why do I scoff when my mom asks me not to add a certain ingredient that I prefer to the meal I am making for my family?

          Why do I grumble when my parents advise me not to purchase a certain thing, or when they tell me that it's not the best time for me to get driving hours?

          Do I realize the irony of inwardly complaining when I've been told to watch my younger siblings outside when instead, I want to read a book on relationship with God and building faith and character?

          Well, now I do.

          Why do I let such small matters cause me to sin and fall subject to my own selfish desires?

          The answer is simple: my flesh is alive and well, and by not living my life as unto the Lord in every minuscule aspect of it, I am giving my flesh the power to rule over me.

          But God is faithful to bring to completion the good work in me that He began, and He isn't done with me yet!

          I suppose He won't be until the minute in which I take my last breath in this world, and move on to be with Him in His heaven. And I hope, with all of my being, that He will be able to say, "Welcome, daughter; and well done, my good and faithful servant."

          On a related note, I've seen the parallels between selflessness and joy. To expound on this briefly, I've discovered that when you are not focused on your own desires, there is more ease and joy in serving and obliging others. A certain heaviness and constant discontentment leaves your soul, because you are not seeking your happiness in the obtaining of your own wants, which are impossible to always satisfy. Instead, your goal is to please others, and that always seems to be easier than pleasing yourself.

          Also, when you are truly denying yourself, your whole outlook on life and general every-day attitude is transformed. It's more positive, more apt to seeing the good and pure in people, in situations, and in circumstances, than if you were constantly seeking the gratification of your own will.

     

          So, I am being taught a lesson in selflessness. And I am learning it much more deeply now than I ever thought I may have learned it before. 

          I do not want to lose sight of this thing happening in me, and my constant prayer is that I do not become complacent or apathetic in my walk with Jesus. Whoever may be reading this, I hope you will pray for me as well.

          

         

     ~It is He who works in me~