Proverbs: A Strong Man Is WiseSample

What Drives You?

Do you ever feel like your passions, more than anything else, drive your decisions? The things you buy, the career you pursue, the people you spend time with?

Our sinful inclination is to focus only on what we want over what anyone else wants. While this question may bring pause to our passions for a moment and force us to recognize another’s position, it’s not the biggest contest of passions that we will encounter.

The greatest contest of passions is when we discover that our passions are in contest with God’s. This is a no-win situation because God’s passions win every time.

And so we meet with the truth that Solomon is trying to teach his son in Proverbs 3. This is what he is saying to his son in my words:

Son, your passions are wild. They consume you. So much so that they will convince you to lean on your own understanding. Every day, you will encounter moments when you will want to justify your course of action because of your passions. In those moments, son, do not trust your passions or lean on your understanding. Instead, trust in the Lord. Set your passions aside. Confess them to God. Then let his passion consume yours. As you acknowledge him this way, God will give you success. And here is what is so cool: when God’s passions become your passions, you function at your best. You function the way God designed you to function and so he makes the way for you.

What passion do you need to give to God today? What passion does he need to consume? Give it to him, because God wants to renew your passions, give you understanding, and make a new way—just for you.

ASK THIS: What passion do you need to give to God today?

DO THIS: Confess it and let it be a sacrifice to him.

PRAY THIS: God, take my selfish passions and give me new ones that are aligned with your will.