Proverbs by Dennis McCallum (2011)

In the book of Proverbs, God lays out His wisdom on how to be skilled at living. God reveals that as you seek wisdom to grow relationally and spiritually you must first seek how to understand people related to His order and His structure of life. This starts with understanding the different ways people can be fools and how God is the beginning of all knowledge.

There are six points that lead to proper interpretation of the promises laid out in Proverbs. As we understand these points, God's promises become more clear. One of the promises that God makes to His followers is to make their paths straight. In order to fully realize this promise and experience it in our own life, we must first choose to entrust our whole self to God. Compartmentalizing the areas we give over to God will not allow us to fully experience this promise.

Choosing who to marry is one of the most important decisions in life. It is important to pick the right person but to also become the right person. The Proverbs paints a picture of the type of marriage that is godly. That the husband and wife both have roles to play and finding someone who already has the characteristics described in the Proverbs will help set your marriage up for success. There are also some very clear warnings in the Proverbs on characteristics that can lead to failure.

Proverbs is full of wisdom when it comes to our finances. Areas that are spoken on include: debt; trusting in riches; the poor and the problems of the poor; attitudes toward money; and ultimately what is money actually for? Proverbs helps the believer consider ethical questions when it comes to wealth.

There are a number of ways to relate to one another that are shared throughout the Proverbs. To gain strong and close relationships with other people Proverbs describes that we should be people who are loyal, trustworthy, giving, honest and willing to discipline in love. Relational skills like this are learned in the Body of Christ. Like these characteristics that bring success to relationship there are also a number of qualities we can have that spoil relationships.

The most powerful tool for relating that humans have been given is our ability to relate through speech. The book of Proverbs makes it clear that we can use the powerful tool of speech wisely or we can use it foolishly. There are many ways we can damage one another by using foolish speech. The results can be devastating. Foolish speech can lead to a crushed spirit, dishonesty, and the destruction of people. Whereas wise speech leads to building one another up in encouragement and spreading the love and knowledge of God.