Proverbs 10:13-14

Wisdom is found in the words of the discerning person,
but the one who lacks wisdom will be disciplined.
Those who are wise store up knowledge,
but foolish speech leads to imminent destruction.

Discipline is not a choice. We either choose to be disciplined beforehand or get disciplined afterwards. I’ve heard someone say we can either be disciplined on the frontend or get disciplined on the backend. Especially for those of us who are Christians, and follow Christ. Those the Lord loves, He also disciplines.

We don’t have a choice as to whether or not we will have discipline. But, we do have a choice about what discipline will look like in our lives.

Let me first say that discipline is not a guarantee that we will not receive discipline from the Lord. We are imperfect creatures. We cannot live perfectly, and we will make mistakes. So, there will be times when we will have to receive discipline for something we have done.

However, as much as we can, we ought to seek to live the Proverbious life. The more we seek to walk in this way, the more we will find ourselves living out discipline instead of having it forced upon us.

The one who is wise stores up knowledge. Part of living the Proverbious life is being a continual learner. We want to continually study the word of God and the ways of God. We want to know as much as we can about how God wants us to live and who God wants us to be. We never get satisfied with where and who we are. We will never arrive at the Proverbious life. It will always be something we are seeking to become.

Part of the becoming is learning. The more we learn, the more our words will have wisdom. Have you studied a scripture in depth, and then found yourself naturally talking about it and working it into conversations? That’s exactly how wisdom works. We store up knowledge, and then when we need to speak into a situation we have something to draw from.

The fool on the other hand has nothing but himself to draw from. He thinks he is wise, but his wisdom is confined only to his narrow understanding of the world and its ways. He has nothing outside of him speaking into his life. He has a little perspective. When the fool speaks, he will run out of things to say. And this is a very dangerous position for him to be in. What comes out of his mouth next could very well be disastrous for him.

Someone who is wise has a perspective on the universe that comes from God’s perspective. We have been learning and storing up knowledge of God’s ways and God’s word, so when we evaluate a situation, we are drawing from a greater perspective.

Perhaps what you need today is a greater perspective.