< Back

#AdaWisdomChallenge

READ Proverbs 19 (listen). WRITE out one verse and SHARE with someone.

Proverbs 19 is part of the proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 10-22). These proverbs are typically two coupled thoughts, giving instruction on how to live out wisdom in all of life. Proverbs 19 includes themes geared toward someone preparing for civil service, such as discernment, character and work ethic.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Proverbs 19:20

Read: Proverbs 19:20

Listen: Proverbs 19

TODAY’S MESSAGE

Like a father to a son, Solomon pleads with his readers to listen to his advice over and over (see Proverbs 1:8; 4:1; 7:24). Solomon was a big deal when it came to sharing wisdom. People flocked to hear his wise advice from around the world (1 Kings 4:34). Reject advice regularly, and Solomon says you will become a fool. Throughout Proverbs, he warns that the call to dismiss advice is the siren song of folly. He begs his reader to listen to his advice.

Solomon knew that, for most of us, it isn’t our natural inclination to take advice. Yet there are wise people around us. People who “know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two.” Those people are often parents, teachers, small group leaders, friends, managers or co-workers. They’ve seen marriages imploded, friendships fractured, families shattered, careers disintegrated, and good names tainted. They’ve often experienced and learned from many of these.

It is true that all advice isn’t good advice. That’s where wisdom comes in. There are three great questions to ask: Is it biblical? Does a wise friend agree with it? Do you feel God convicting you when you pray about it?

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Identify your default response to advice or criticism. Often a default response is shame, defensiveness or contempt. These feelings are real but not helpful. Listening to advice requires us to be emotionally aware enough to move beyond initial feelings to a place where we can honestly consider advice. Pray and ask God to help you see your initial response to advice or criticism. Ask him to help you mature by moving past those emotions and being sensitive to opportunities to grow.

Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.