Proverbs 15:12 ESV A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A12&version=ESV] Who are the wise among us? It’s not an easy question. Rich people, maybe? But let’s be honest, rich people can be remarkably stupid. Worse, a lot of them are downright evil. What about poor…
Proverbs 15:11 ESV Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of man! [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A11&version=ESV] Who really understands mankind? Our hearts are obscured even to us, and we all know that we haven’t the faintest shot at completely comprehending those closest to us. There’s always some new…
Proverbs 15:10 ESV There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A10&version=ESV] We’re all sinners. I sin, you sin, your kid sins, your parents sin, and the president of the United States sins (though I don’t know what we expected from that last one). On this earth,…
Proverbs 15:9 ESV The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A9&version=ESV] Christianity is antithetical to laziness. For us individuals, though, it’s easy to try and live our lives in moral equilibrium. We go from one day to the next, content in the assurance…
Proverbs 15:8 ESV The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A8&version=ESV] Heresy has dogged the steps of Israel and the church since its earliest days. In the days of Moses, the Israelites- at least the less honest of them-…
Proverbs 15:7 ESV The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A7&version=ESV] If a wise man’s lips spread knowledge, and we desire to be wise, we must choose to follow the course of the wise man and spread knowledge. We must not be like the fool, whose heart hides…
Proverbs 15:6 ESV In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A6&version=ESV] The common line of modern church thought is that the promises of the Old Testament in regards to prosperity in this present life were for that time and not this. Or it’s…
Proverbs 15:5 ESV A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A5&version=ESV] Man does not have the right to ignore true authority. God’s authority over man is without exception and absolute (1 Sam. 2:10). It should be to our joy, then, that His authority is not only perfect but, to…
Proverbs 15:5 ESV A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A5&version=ESV] We humans hate authority. Toddlers are the most honest about it; they regard ‘no’ as a horror beyond belief. Unfortunately, as much as we like to think otherwise, we don’t really leave our instinctive hatred for the word…
Proverbs 15:4 ESV A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+15%3A4&version=ESV] Sometimes when those you love are hurting, you just want to shake them. They’re begin stupid, they’re being slow, can’t they just get better and stop hurting so much. More shamefully, and we don’t like…