Whom you surround yourself with determines if you rise or fall. Godly wisdom makes for wise counsel that brings safety and victory.
Who has your ear, and what are they feeding on? True counsel is alive and sound.
Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety”.
The word counsel is the Hebrew word taḥbulôṯ, which means “direction, guidance, good or wise counsel” (Blue Letter Bible). Becoming a person who can offer wise counsel is becoming a person full of the Word and the Holy Spirit.
Your heart teaches your mouth what to say, so it also teaches your mind what to think (Proverbs 16:23; Luke 6:45). Filling your heart with the Word is filling your mind and mouth with the Word. Giving wise counsel is living from the overflow of that Word hidden in your heart (Psalm 119:11).
Keeping the Word in your heart demands being intentional. The seed of the Word only remains and bears fruit in good soil, which means that your heart can’t be full of distractions and worries that choke out the seed before it can bear fruit (Matthew 13:3-23). A noble heart that retains the Word and becomes abundantly fruitful is a heart cultivated to be good soil (Luke 8:8, 15).
The Bible defines wise counsel as being full of the wisdom of God, which is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:1).
The world doesn’t have it because it doesn’t know or accept the things of God. Going to the world for counsel is going to the wrong source that’s bankrupt and powerless.
God’s wisdom brings strategy for victory in battle (Psalm 144:1-2), favour and blessings (Proverbs 8:32-35), and long life and prosperity (Proverbs 9:10-12; 8:18-21).
If you want the wisdom of God, you have to be in the Word, Presence, and will of God.
How to Get Wisdom
Wisdom is found by those who seek it (Proverbs 4:5-9).
Proverbs 4:5 exhorts us, “Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth”, because paying attention is the only way to become wise.
Paying attention is the only way to become wise.
What’s constantly playing in your mind? What do you really believe? Whose character are you reflecting in your words, thoughts, actions, and behaviours?
Paying attention to these things and filtering them through Scripture is how you become “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). The Bible can’t change you until it gets deep into you. Paying attention to how you live and why you live that way is how you get that depth.
Personally, I’ve gleaned a few insights on wisdom from reading Proverbs. They’re changing how I speak, think, and live because I read them often enough to check myself against Scripture and see how I’m growing.
Some Insights on Wisdom from Proverbs
1. Wisdom aligns me with the person I need to be to live out what God has planned for me (Proverbs 9:1-12).
2. Wisdom begins when I fear the Lord (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; 15:33).
3. Accepting rebuke and growing from it are signs of a mature, healthy, humble heart (Proverbs 9:8-9).
4. Wisdom has richly provided all I need for sustenance, instruction, long life, and satisfaction (Proverbs 9:1-6, 9-12).
5. Trusting the wisdom of God is submitting to His will out of love and reverence (Proverbs 9:10).
6. Folly is seductive and promising, but it ends in death (Proverbs 9:13-18).
Jesus is the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24b). Listening to Him is listening to life (Proverbs 8:32-25). Refusing His counsel is accepting death (Proverbs 8:36).
I read the Bible to know what Jesus says so I can be a person who lives by revelation of what He says.
The written Word becomes my daily bread when my eyes and heart are opened to receive its truth, goodness, and strength. The abundance of the Word is evident in me when the Word comes alive in me.
The abundance of the Word is evident in me when the Word comes alive in me.
If I’m to live an abundant, victorious life, I can’t do it without the Word. There’s no true safety or victory outside it, which is why there’s no dominion without the wisdom and wise counsel of those who live by the Word.
The same is true for you.
You need wisdom and wise counsel because you need the strategy, safety, and abundance they bring. You need the victory they assure.
And if you depend on the world instead of the Word, you’re building on shaky ground that can’t stand the weight of life’s storms, troubles, and trials (Luke 6:46, 49).
What are you depending on today?
So good Otiti❤️🔥
Blessy! Thank you so much! 🤗🤗
This is amazing Jasmine! Wise and GODLY counsel is really important. I learned that the hard way but thank God for light 🙏🏿 🩵
Heeey, Olla! Thank you so much for reading! You’re right; I learned it the hard way too, but God! He’s faithful.
Hope to see you here again! 🙂