Colson Potter writes copious fiction and nonfiction, including a weekly Proverbs post and his blog at Creational Story.

Proverbs 18:17

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. [Proverbs 18:17 ESV]   Getting both sides of the story is an absolutely essential part of argument and judgement; it’s also something we are heavily inclined to not do. We get a first impression, and we stick with it, for…

Proverbs 18:16

A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before the great. [Proverbs 18:16 ESV]   One principle of reading Proverbs is recognizing that recognition is not endorsement. The way things are is often not the way they should be. Proverbs deals with reality; Proverbs teaches us to deal with reality. Reality includes, thanks…

Proverbs 18:15

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. [Proverbs 18:15 ESV]   Fire does not burn without fuel; smoke does not rise without fire. Every result has a prerequisite and a cause, leading back to Him and His decree, the ultimate cause. Human wisdom, ingenuity, and achievement has as one of…

Proverbs 18:14

A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? [Proverbs 18:14 ESV]   A heart attack can be triggered by shock, spiritual triggering physical. Anger or despair can be elicited by a long-running injury, physical triggering spiritual. In daily life, a ray of light, impacting the eye, can cause the spirit to…

Proverbs 18:13

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. [Proverbs 18:13 ESV]   The classic error in math, the one that plagues me at least, is swapping one sign for another. Subtraction becomes addition, addition becomes multiplication, a negative number becomes positive. On multiple choice tests, too, my constant bane is…

Proverbs 18:12

Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. [Proverbs 18:12 ESV]   We all know that humility is good. The next question doesn’t have quite so clear an answer: what is humility? Often we equate it with self-debasement or self-effacement, the reduction of my own claim on the world. Such a definition,…

Proverbs 18:11

A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. [Proverbs 18:11 ESV]   We attach great importance to the here and now. The past and the future often fall out of sight, all our thought turned to the foreground. Then the past comes into focus, the future arrives, and…

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. [Proverbs 18:10 ESV]   Uncertainty, worry, and fear are three companions everybody walks alongside for a time, barring insanity. The world is big; people are complex; we ourselves oscillate between self-certainty and a realization of our own inability…