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Walking in Godly Wisdom: Biblical Principles for Everyday Decisions · Fostering Faith

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Welcome back to Fostering Faith and we are going
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to go into the month of June. And in this month,
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we're going to be talking about wisdom. And so
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wisdom is going to be our theme. And so we're
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going to be in Proverbs this month. And so welcome
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to June. And this month, we're going to slow
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down and seek God's wisdom and learn how to walk
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in discernment, maturity, and clarity. Proverbs
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is full of practical tips and truth that helps
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us make better decisions, guard our hearts, and
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say on the path, that God has made. And so our
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anchor verse this month is Proverbs 4 -7, wisdom
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is supreme, therefore get wisdom. And so in this
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episode, we're gonna be walking in godly wisdom.
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And if there's one thing every person is desperate
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for right now, whether we realize it or not,
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is wisdom. And so we can take a picture and note
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from the wisest person in scripture, and it was
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Solomon. And so he had asked for wisdom. We may
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have a lot of information, but do we have wisdom?
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We have more information now than any generation
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in history, and by less wisdom than ever before.
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And we have endless options, but very little
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discernment. We have non -stop noise, but not
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enough stillness. And we have access to every
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voice. but yet we're starving for the right voice.
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And God knew this. This is why He gave us the
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book of Proverbs, a manual for living, a compass
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for chaos, a compass for choices, a flashlight
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for confusing seasons, and guardrails for foolish
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paths. Wisdom is an intelligence. Wisdom is an
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age. Wisdom is an experience. Wisdom isn't a
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personality. Wisdom is the ability to live life
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the way that God designed it. And the good news?
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Anyone can have it. Anyone can grow in it. Anyone
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can walk in it. Anyone can ask God for it. And
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if God gives generously as James 1 -5 says, this
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episode is about showing us and listeners that
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wisdom isn't complicated. It's intentional. You
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have to actually seek to be wise. And so in this
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episode, the foundation of all wisdom is fear
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of the Lord. Proverbs 9 -10 says the fear of
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the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This means
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that wisdom begins with awe, reverence, respect,
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surrender, trust, and obedience. The fear of
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God isn't terror like you're scared. It's alignment.
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It's saying, God, your way is right. Your perspective
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is true. Your word is final. Your voices lead
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me. Your boundaries protect me. And your wisdom
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is better than my instincts. Wisdom begins the
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moment self -stop leading and God starts leading.
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And so why do we need this? Why do we need wisdom?
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Why do we need wisdom more than ever? The world
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is so loud and temptations are very subtle. Choices
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are complicated. Relationships are messy. Emotions
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fluctuate and culture shifts constantly and pressure
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is everywhere. Without godly wisdom, people don't
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just drift. They drift into different things.
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Unnecessary pain, regret, toxic relationships,
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repeated cycles, poor decisions, hidden habits,
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spiritual confusion, emotional instability, and
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wasted years. Wisdom doesn't eliminate the storms,
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but it helps you navigate through them. Wisdom
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doesn't prevent all pain. It prevents a lot of
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unnecessary pain. Wisdom doesn't make life perfect.
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It makes it fruitful. And the Book of Proverbs
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is a treasure's chest that holds a ton of wisdom.
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Here's just a couple topics that Proverbs actually
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goes through. If you've never read it, I encourage
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you to read one Proverbs a day. There are 31
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chapters. Most months have 31 days. And so the
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book talks about Friendships and finances and
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marriage and anger control, discipline, purity,
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speech, work ethic, boundaries, planning, conflict,
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pride, humility, leadership, character, and reputation.
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Proverbs is a father or mother saying to their
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kid, listen, don't learn everything the hard
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way. And how many parents that are listening
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or kids that are listening, you may have heard,
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I've already did this. I have told you a hundred
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times. Learn from my mistakes. Listen. Don't
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learn the hard way that I did. I've already been
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down that road and that's why God gave you me.
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And so you could have an easier way of doing
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this. I've already done it. Please just listen
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to me. And if you youth are listening. then please
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let us help you spare yourselves from the heartache
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that we've already went through. God let us go
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through hardships to be able to teach you guys
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and I'm pretty sure in Proverbs it says that
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we need to be listening to people that have white
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hair and Thank goodness for my hairdresser because
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if I didn't have her, my hair would be white.
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And so we went through so many trials and tribulations
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and walked out of God's will and ended up in
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such a mess. And so we are here with testimony
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after testimony. And so please, if you're listening
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to this and you have someone wise and discerning
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in your life, listen to them. They've went through
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trials. They went through troubles. People in
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their 40s or 50s or 60s or 80s or 90s. I love
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talking to my older generations, 80s and 90s,
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about the wisdom that they've gained and just
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to just bask in their wisdom because God has
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taken them through so many storms, through many
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marriages and just relationships and what to
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do and what not to do. And it's just so incredible
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to learn. from their past mistakes, and so I
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don't have to repeat it. And so if you can, just
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lean into people that have been through different
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seasons before you've walked through it. And
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so I think that there's four paths of life that
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Proverbs warrants us about. Number one, the way
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of the wise. And so this path is marked by humility,
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teachability, obedience, character, listening,
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discipline. and integrity. Proverbs 3, 13 says,
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Bless is the one who finds wisdom. Wisdom leads
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to peace, favor, clarity, instability. I tell
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my kids all the time that we need to make sure
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that the only pie that I recommend is humble
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pie. And so it teaches us about having humility,
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about being humble. In our church, one of our
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core ingredients is to be teachable. It is having
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a teachable heart makes us obedient and that
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becomes part of your character because you're
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listening to God and the discipline that he gives
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us to be and to go into scripture to be able
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to get the wisdom and Whenever you do this your
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integrity changes you become an integrist person
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You are the same that you are on Sunday morning
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that you are Monday in the office that you are
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Saturday whenever you're with your friends These
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things will change you as you seek his face,
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as you seek his wisdom and guidance. These things
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change. And so it's so great to see people have
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a transformation because it's about the fruit.
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And so yes, you are a tree. Yes, we are connected
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for the divine, but we have to grow our fruit.
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And then number two, the way of the foolish.
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This person, where I've been, ignores godly advice,
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acts impulsively, rejects correction. Follows
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emotion and then repeats mistakes. I've done
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every one of them multiple times Proverbs 14
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12 said there is a way that seems right But the
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end is death and so how many times have we ignored
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godly advice? How many times have we felt the
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Holy Spirit nudges and we're like, ah, that doesn't
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sound like a great idea That sounds like a super
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big inconvenience. I'm not doing it Or we act
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irrationally. We act on emotion. We act whenever
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we get angry or mad or we see something and we
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don't go to God first. We just act because we
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know that we can take care of it. I'll just do
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it and get it over with. And then whenever we
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have somebody that tries to correct us with love
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and grace and they do it in a correct way but
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we get super offensive and we let pride in or
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no. I'm not gonna be corrected. No. We reject
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correction. Like I said before we follow emotions
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we do things out of anger and embarrassment and
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we follow the emotion that we have and we act
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impulsively and thank God that he is Graceful
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and merciful because we repeat mistakes over
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and over again, but he doesn't strike us down
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whenever we get things wrong He lets us repeat
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the mistake and so we learn and I don't know
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about you But I tend to be a slow learner and
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so I have to repeat the testing and the trials
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so many times and he says, get up again, get
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up again, let's do it again. Let's do it over.
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Let's do it over. Let's do it over. I'm like,
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and then I finally get it. And so foolishness
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feels right in the moment, but it will crush
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you later. And three, the way of the lazy, of
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the sluggard. It says sluggard a lot in scripture
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and that's what it means. It's just being lazy.
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And this isn't about nabs. It's about avoidance.
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This person procrastinates. avoids responsibility,
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wants rewards without working for it, has big
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talk but small effort, and doesn't follow through.
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And Proverbs 3 .14 says the soul of the sluggard
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craves and gets nothing. Laziness steals destiny.
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And so for the person that maybe you're a procrastinator,
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maybe you're the person that puts things off
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way into you work in the last minute. Oh, I work
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great under pressure and you do it that way.
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You're avoiding responsibility. You were given
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a task and then we do it because it pleases the
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Lord for us to be in the position that we're
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in to have the responsibilities that's been given
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to us. And people want all the reward. They want
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all the likes. They want all the followers. They
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want this huge platform. But they don't want
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to work for it. They don't want to put the time
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in. Just time and time again. Kids say that they
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want to be and have arms and they want to have
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biceps and they want to have abs and they want
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to do all this other stuff and they're gonna
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get healthy and they're gonna do all this other
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stuff. And adults say the same thing. And it's
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just, okay, so let's get a diet plan. Let's get
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you a clean eating habit. Let's get you into
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the gym. Let's, here's, no. I'm not going to
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do any of that. I just want those things. And
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so they want the reward of working out. They
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want the reward of consistently showing up in
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the gym. They want the reward of eating healthy.
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They want the reward. They want this amazing
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relationship with God, but they won't even give
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him 10 minutes or the gym 10 minutes and they
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won't put 10 days into a diet. And they expect
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their world to change and it does not work like
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that. And then they want something. They want
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this huge thing. But then they don't want to
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go for it. And we just give you, they give small
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effort. And so I want to change the world, but
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I don't want to get off the couch. Now, with
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social media and the ability to post and do,
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that's still effort. And so getting on there
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and making a TikTok, getting on here and making
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a podcast, getting on there and being consistent
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and wanting to do big things, because God has
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put big things on your heart, you have to have
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big effort. You can't have small effort. And
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you're not going to see any millionaire, billionaire,
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or anybody that's making a difference putting
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small effort into something that is huge. And
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people don't follow through. And you have to
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follow through if you want to see things. And
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that is just... You have to follow through. If
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you say that you're going to do something, then
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do it. And then I am... really if you sign up
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for something and that's another big thing too
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is that if you sign up for 5 ,000 things then
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you have to sign up for 5 ,000 things and so
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be very selective because if you don't follow
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through with it then don't sign up you're taking
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a position from somebody and Gia has learned
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this the hard way and so she wants to sign up
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for all these sports but then it's fun and friends
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and beautiful days outside but she has practice.
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I don't want to go mom. It's not mandatory. I
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don't want to go. You signed up for it. You knew
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the responsibilities going into it and so therefore
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you signed up for it and so therefore you will
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go. Next time you know what it takes to be a
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travel volleyball player. You know what it takes
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to be a three sportsman student. You have to
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get good grades. You have to do the follow through.
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You have to go to practice whenever all your
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friends are doing whatever they want to do on
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beautiful days, but you signed up and so therefore
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you have to follow through with your original
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commitment. going to do it. And so you have to
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follow through with what you say that you're
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going to do. And that also brings you into that
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first category of integrity. If you say that
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you're going to do something, then do it. Bottom
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line, if you say that you're going to do it,
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then do it. If you don't want to or you know
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that you're a person that does not have that
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strength yet, then don't sign up for all the
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things. And that's my soapbox and I'll get off
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of it. Four, the way of the wicked. This is intentional
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rebellion. This person resists God, loves sin,
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harms others, and refuses conviction. Proverbs
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is clear. That path will lead to destruction.
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And so in class, I often talk about two highways.
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And so one is real narrow and that's what he
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says in scripture is that there's a road that
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leads and that's very narrow and there's guardrails
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and there are certain things that we do and do
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not do and it all leads To glory of God in heaven
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and there's another way that is the highway to
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hell and it's real wide and glamorous and we
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get and you get to do whatever you want to do
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and have no care in the world and you get to
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Refuse that kind of urge and that conviction
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you're out here hurting people and you don't
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care and you love your sinful nature because
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we all do but we have to die to those fleshly
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desires and we're resisting God we know potentially
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what scripture says or you had someone in your
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life that says this is not how God wants us to
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live and we're living in a sinful, obvious sinful
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life because we are all sinners. We are saints,
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those that follow Christ. We are saints that
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choose to sin. And so we are out here just loving
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our best life and living our truth and all this
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other funny business. And that way leads to wickedness.
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And so here are some tangible habits, some wisdom
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that are built in through six daily habits that
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I feel could really help change. how you look
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and build on your fruit. And so in your workbook,
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it is one, read God's word daily. Proverbs 6
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-2 says, the Lord gives wisdom. No word equals
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no wisdom. The Bible is your compass, not culture.
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Two, choose your friends wisely. Proverbs 13
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-20 says, walk with wise and become wise. Who
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you walk with affects who you become. and wisdom
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grows in healthy company. And so we've said this
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time and time again on this podcast, who you
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are is directly affected by who you're hanging
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out with. Pick your friends wisely. And I think
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it said people are like the five people that
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you hang out with is the direction that you're
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going. So are your friends going in the direction
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that you want to go in? If they're not, I would
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probably pick different friends. Listen three,
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listen before you speak. Proverb 1727 says wise
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people are slow to speak. Your tongue can build
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or break you. Wisdom pauses before reaction.
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And so that is a huge lesson that I'm learning
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every day. And so I'm very quick to, I was very
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quick to anger. Now do I still get angry? Absolutely.
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Do I, that I used to send emails? Yes, absolutely.
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Did I have to have a sticky note on my computer
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that says do not send email? Yes, and so your
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tongue literally can bring life or death into
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people and so listen before you speak I think
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there's a book or I think Simon Sinek said something
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about leaders eat last or something like that
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and so we just listen just listen and Then whenever
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you have a reaction count to ten take a deep
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breath in and blow it out and then ask God for
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guidance Which leads to four seek counsel? Proverbs
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11, 14 says, victory comes from many counselors.
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And so wise people ask questions. Absolutely.
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Fools pretend that they know everything. Why?
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You cannot know everything. Please do not think
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that you do. Wise people ask questions. And so
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many times I get the question, why do you ask
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so many questions? Why do you ask so many questions?
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And context is so important. Context is so important.
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And so what do I do for a living? I have to help
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people. And so I have to ask the same question
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in five different directions to get where we
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need to go. And so asking questions, ask questions
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after questions, there really is no silly question
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and there is no stupid question. And so if you
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don't know, you got to ask. And so you ask people.
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Theology by itself is very dangerous. And so
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you seek counsel, seek someone that's wiser than
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you, seek someone that's in this faith longer
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than you have, seek your pastor or a friend or
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a mom or a grandma that knows Christ. And they
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should lead you in that opposite way of what
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you're trying to go for. And lead you in the
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path of Jesus. And five, practice self -control.
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In Proverbs 25 -28, it says, And so self -control,
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as we remember from earlier episodes, the fruit
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of the Spirit. And so as we ended last year with
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all the fruits of the Spirit, go back and listen
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to that if you have not. And so we have self
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-control. And so that's one of the fruits of
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the Spirit. And so you have to practice what
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God has put already inside of you. And so whenever
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I have a sign up in my office, it says we do
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what is right, not what is easy. And so choosing
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the best may be an inconvenience for you. But
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if God has put something on your heart, then
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we do it, because that is the best to our ability.
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We don't do what's easy, because it would be
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easy just to do things just halfway. No, we do
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them at 100 percent. Six, stay humble. Proverbs
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16, 18 says, Pride comes before destruction.
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Humility keeps us teachable and pride binds you
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to danger. And so pride was the first sin. That's
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what got Lucifer kicked out of heaven. And so
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as we stay humble, pride can't attach to that.
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And so we eat our humble pie. Again, that is
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the only pie that I'm going to recommend. And
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whenever I was growing up, a little side note,
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fun note, I had that for my birthday. I used
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to eat raisin pie and it was... So good. But
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we have a different relationship with food, and
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that's a lot of sugar. And so eat your humble
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pie. And so wisdom is a decision before it's
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a feeling. Some people wait for wisdom to hit
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them. But wisdom is chosen long before it's felt.
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Walking in wisdom looks like slowing down before
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rushing, praying before reacting, thinking long
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term and not short term, asking God for direction,
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saying no to things that derail you, guarding
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your heart. choosing godly influences, filtering
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voices, evaluating consequences. Wisdom is intentional
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and not accidental. The enemy fears a wise Christian
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because a wise believer is hard to deceive, hard
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to distract, hard to manipulate, hard to tempt,
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hard to break, hard to divide, and hard to intimidate.
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Wisdom exposes the traps before you step into
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them. And when believers walk in wisdom, The
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enemy loses its leverage. And so we hope that
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you guys are looking into the workbooks that
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we have made in there on the Fostering Faith
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Media website. And so the reflection question
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for this week is where do I need more godly wisdom
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in my life right now? Maybe it's a relationship,
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a decision, school, leadership, your habits,
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your finances, your emotions, your boundaries,
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your priorities, what it is. Sit with the Holy
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Spirit and He will illuminate these directions.
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in your life. And what is one practical step
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that you'll take this week? To walk in wisdom.
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Maybe it's going to be read that one chapter
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in Proverbs daily. Pause before you respond.
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Talk to a mentor. Eliminate foolish influences.
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Create boundaries. Pray over decisions before
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you act. And replace one habit with a healthier
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one. Wisdom grows with practice. And so we hope
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that this message encouraged you. We hope that
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this message allow you to just be So excited
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to walk in wisdom. And so we would love to pray
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for you. If this message inspired you, share
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it, like it, help our podcast grow, send it to
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someone, use it as a small group session. And
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so we would love to pray for you. Dear Heavenly
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Father, thank you so much for today. Thank you
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so much for yesterday. Thank you that you were
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teaching us wisdom. Thank you for discernment.
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Thank you for clarity. Thank you for humility.
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Thank you for the path that we choose that is
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wise. Thank you for leading us. Thank you for
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your word. Thank you for your spirit. Thank you
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for protecting us from fool's decisions. Thank
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you that you are making us wise every day that
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we choose you. Thank you for all that you do
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in Jesus name. I pray Amen We hope that this
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message encouraged you stay tuned for next week
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as we are going into episode 2 wise choices and
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wise friends We hope that you guys have an amazing
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week. We love you. Bye