Proverbs 15:18-21 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 15:18-21, which read,

v.18 - A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute.

The proverbs paint a picture of true life.  I have seen a hot-tempered man and sometimes I have been the hot-tempered man.  The solution may come but it will not be without strife.  Everyone is changed in a negative way when this technique is used.  The loudest voice may have won on one front but it loses on many others.

I have seen the slow to anger man and a few times I have been that man.  You take more in when you are using this technique and your mind and eyes expand to look beyond this immediate crisis.  What comes out of your mouth brings about positive change on a deeper level because it calms the souls of others.  

Strife or calmness?  What does your life bring to others?

v.19 - The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

If you had a hedge of thorns that you needed to travel through on occasion or others to pass through with you then you should remove the thorns.  It will take some work and you may get poked in the process but it will be worth it in the end.

Those thorns hurt and we have many things in our lives that hurt us and others but we are lazy and we don't remove them with the Lord's help and with His instructions.  We leave them there and therefore we don't experience the openness that we can have with the Father and with others.

A thorny person.  A person who you have to maneuver around the thorns of their life that could be removed but remain and stick others.  What thorns do you need to remove today?  What is unresolved in your life that brings pain to yourself, others, and your relationship with the Lord?

v.20 - A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.

Again, the gender can be switched here so it can be a mother glad and despises his father.  You could probably also combine them as parents so make his parents glad or despises his parents.

The wise son's actions brings about a positive response in one of his most significant physical relationships on the earth.  The word "son" signifies that the relationship is intact.

The foolish man's actions brings about a negative response from him to one of his most significant physical relationships on the earth.  The word "man" signifies that the relationship is not intact.  

Our actions, wise or foolish, bring about something either negative or positive reaction and also bring about the growth or a tear down of a significant relationship.  Think about your significant physical relationships.  Are your actions bringing about gladness in others or a despising within yourself toward them?

v.21 - Folly is joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight.

Those who are foolish start to redefine God's created order.  God has a definition for joy and that is to give glory unto Him.  The fool has changed the definition to be that joy is bringing glory to oneself.  The man of understanding sticks straight with God's definitions.  

We see this in our world.  A walking away from God's words has put us in a position to redefine what God has already given us.  The definition of marriage is a great example.  God created it, defined it, and has given great instruction on the maintaining of it.  What have we done?  We have given it a new definition, created an expanded version, and given it a throw away mentality.

This is just one example of what we do when we are foolish.  Have you been redefining what God says?  Is there an area of your life that has changed but it is not closer to Him but rather farther from His words of instruction?  The proverb is that being straight with God is a good thing.  Let's pray.

"Lord, the proverbs display true life and I can put myself in the place of the wise and in the place of the foolish.  I have done both and I repent of those times when I have allow my emotions to flare and I haven't removed those thorns and I have torn down significant relationships with my actions and I have ignored Your words and ways to my new and improved definitions.  May I be straight with You today.  Amen."

Pastor Adam 
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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