The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (88 page)

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December 1

The Pitfalls of Pride

     
He [or she] who is of a proud heart stirs up strife,

     
But he [or she] who trusts in the L
ORD
will be prospered.

It’s been said, “Temper gets you into trouble. Pride keeps you there.”

Before we apply this to someone else, let’s see if this applies to us. Prideful. We are being prideful when we always think we have a better way or when we think we’re always right. When we do this, we can make others feel inferior. We dig in our heels.

Henry Beecher once said, “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” Maybe that’s why pride always causes trouble and an atmosphere of tension. Unfortunately, pride makes us think that everything is about us. Every little slight is noted, even if unintentional. Every delay is resented. If we are the center of things, then others are on the outs. This makes us very hard to live with.

Ladies, let’s be honest. Is there a conflict that you are having with a friend, your husband, or in your church, and it comes down to the fact that you are offended that you didn’t get your way? Yes, maybe you think your idea or plan was best, and maybe it was, but now you’re angry. If you retain that resentment, can you see in the end nobody wins, including you?

Our proverb simply and yet clearly gives us both the cause and the antidote: “A proud heart stirs up strife, but [she] who trusts in the L
ORD
will be prospered.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Trusting God relieves us of the need and even the desire to fight our own battles. Therefore, let me challenge you. Will you allow your heart to rest by shifting your confidence to God? Trust involves patience and a willingness to accept his sometimes unusual and creative solutions. I often quote Proverb 3:5-6 to myself. It reminds me that my natural instincts and insight are limited and flawed. God sees the end from the beginning.

“Trust in the L
ORD
with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

One Year Bible Reading

Daniel 8:1-27; 1 John 2:1-17; Psalm 120:1-7; Proverbs 28:25-26

December 2

The Gift of Giving

     
He [or she] who gives to the poor will lack nothing,

          
but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

I love what Winston Churchill said: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

The Christian life is really a giving life. This is not the burden of it. This is the blessing and privilege of it. And often it’s not the bigness of the gift, it’s the sweetness in which it’s given that blesses the one who receives.

That is what makes the story of the Good Samaritan so powerful. The story starts out with a man traveling. Thieves attacked him, stripped him, wounded him, and left him half dead. Every time I read this I think about how many women all around us are hurting and wounded, not just physically, but emotionally and morally and spiritually. In this story the first two people passed by, and we know how they felt. They were busy. It wasn’t their problem.

But we do love the Good Samaritan. Pay attention to his reaction. “[He] . . . came to where [the wounded man] was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him, bandaged his wounds . . . and took care of him” (Luke 10:33-34,
NKJV
).

Let me emphasize the first three important elements. He saw him, had compassion, and went to him. After Jesus told this story, he said, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37,
NKJV
).

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18,
NKJV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Why do we sometimes pass by the poor and needy? Truthfully, we’re already stretched. We’re afraid we’ll run short of time, energy, and resources we require for our own needs and families. But God makes an amazing promise: “[She] who gives to the poor will lack nothing.” Is that true? Are you wondering
, Can I trust God to make good on his word?
You’ll never know unless you step out in faith. The Good Samaritan gave up his plans for a few hours. But you can be sure there are three who never forgot it: the wounded man, the Samaritan who left the inn with joy deep in his heart, and God himself.

One Year Bible Reading

Daniel 9:1–11:1; 1 John 2:18–3:6; Psalm 121:1-8; Proverbs 28:27-28

December 3

Let Go

     
For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn,

     
There’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break,

          
but by then it’ll be too late to help them.

This is a sober description and a serious warning. Sure enough, we can all think of people who are hardheaded, hard-hearted, stubborn, unwilling to yield or be corrected.

Do you know how they capture monkeys in the jungle? The trap of stubbornness. A hole is drilled in a coconut shell, just large enough for a monkey to thrust in his hand. It is then filled with nuts and fastened firmly to a tree at sunset. Drawn by the scent of food, the monkey will put his hand into the shell and grasp the nuts. But the hole is too small for him to withdraw his now-clenched fist. Pull as he may, he is trapped unless he releases his nuts. This poor stubborn monkey, nothing holds him captive but himself.

But are there times that we too are just like this monkey? The answer can be right under our noses, but we are stuck because we won’t give up our right to our right. Oh foolish us. Let’s stop fearing discipline and change, knowing that God brings it into our life to break us of our rigid ways.

Do you want to let God do a fresh, freeing work? Write the words
Let God
. Then, strike out the
d
and you’ll know the secret:
Let Go.

“Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

     
All to Jesus I surrender; All to Him I freely give,

     
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

     
I surrender all, I surrender all,

     
All to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

     
All to Jesus I surrender; Humbly at His feet I bow,

     
Worldly pleasures all forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now.

One Year Bible Reading

Daniel 11:2-35; 1 John 3:7-24; Psalm 122:1-9; Proverbs 29:1