Live Wise: The Power Of Proverbs
Wisdom In The Wild
Life is difficult. There’s no way around it. But too often, we make it more difficult than it has to be because we work against principles God put into place. Fortunately, God offers us wisdom for how to live in harmony with the seen and unseen realities of our world. In this series, we’ll look at some of the powerful wisdom God offers from the book of Proverbs that can help us thrive in our family, finances, and careers.
Links
Series
Speakers
Joël Malm
Teaching Pastor
Live Wise – Part 5
Wisdom in the Wild
Key Point: Wisdom is the path to living in harmony with reality. It helps you stop unnecessary suffering.
Key Point: You can ignore reality, but you can’t avoid the consequences of ignoring reality.
Proverbs 18:16
A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.
Proverbs 27:8
Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.
Proverbs 16:9
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 18:1-2
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 24:10-12
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?
TITLE: Wisdom In The Wild
Week of 9-29-24
TEXT: PROVERBS 18:1-2; 18:16; 16:9
CHECKING IN
- If this is your first-time meeting as a group, or a new group member, introduce yourselves.
- Share with the group what you hope to get out of this GROW Group series.
MEMORY VERSE
Proverbs 18:1-2 “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”
MAIN POINT
WISDOM IS THE PATH TO LIVING IN HARMONY WITH REALITY. It helps you stop unnecessary suffering.
INTRODUCTION
As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. Last week the focus was on our ATTENTION. In our walk with God, there will always be people or opportunities that want to CAPTURE your attention. Since ATTENTION INFLUENCES DIRECTION. We must be wise and GIVE ATTENTION to the things that will direct our path in the direction of our desired destinations. This week we will discuss that we can be our own worst enemies. There are times that we know that our ACTIONS ARE NOT THE BEST THING FOR US, but we choose to do them anyway. And doing so leaves us with the CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORING REALITY.
QUESTION:
We all make certain decisions, and we may feel like we have the right intention, but in reality we may not. For example, you may have high blood sugar, so instead of stopping to drink soda entirely, you choose to drink less soda. But in the end it is still harming you. Think about a time that you have made a decision that you knew wasn’t truly the right one, but decided to do it anyway.
UNDERSTANDING/DIGGING DEEPER
You can ignore reality, but you CAN’T IGNORE THE CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORING REALITY.
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ Proverbs 18:16 Unpack Prov. 18:16
If you stay focused on your gift and use it to the best of your ability and not get distracted, you can stand before great people with that gift.
What do you think your God given ability/gift is?
There's something in you that you're so gifted and natural at that you probably don't realize it's there just because it's so natural to you, you think everybody has it but you have it and you need to recognize what it is. It is important to recognize it because whether we like it or not, we are not good at everything. Also if you're spending all your time trying to be everything you can't be the one thing that you're really gifted at because it takes about 10,000 hours to develop a gift to its maximum capacity. We all have something that only WE can do.
What in life can no one else do, only you can?
APPLICATION
HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ Proverbs 16:9 Explain what King Solomon is trying to communicate in this verse?
THINK ABOUT IT:
Is there something in your life that you have planned for, and it takes a lot of planning? Do you think that plan is full proof? Is it not? Why is it that YOU need to plan it, rather than let God take control of it?
COMMENTARY
When there's something in your heart that you want to do you need to look at what is the core behind that. As previously stated, we all have a unique gift that we need to lean into and try our best to perfect it. In order to truly figure out what it is, is to allow God to show you. As said in proverbs, the Lord establishes our steps, so with whatever we are doing in our life, we must lean on God’s understanding and wisdom rather than our own (Proverbs 3:5). Giving up the driver's seat can and will be hard, but why not give it up to the person with the map? God knows the plan already, we may have our own plan but it is not HIS plan… so challenge yourself to figure out what gift you have and become great at it. Be the hands and feet of God.
FOLLOW UP
Throughout this week, consider sending a follow-up email to your group. Some suggestions:
❏ Questions to consider as you continue to reflect on what you learned this week: How can our group pray for you this week about the challenges you are facing, so that you can have victory? When are you most prone to Satan’s attacks? List a couple of them, then prepare ahead of time for the potential attacks.
❏ A note of encouragement, following up on any specific prayer requests mentioned during your group gathering.
❏ Remember to memorize Proverbs 18:1-2 and seek ways to apply this week