The Proverbs :: A Guidebook for MenSample

What is the end goal of this exercise? Why put in the time to read these Proverbs, reflect on them, and share those reflections with other men in your life? Let’s look at what God is offering for His sons if we keep His teachings close and heed His words:

“Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and men.”

A good name in the sight of God… what could be more beautiful? When each of us and all we own is destined to return to dust, what could be more important than the quality of our name in standing with God?

And so, with our goal in mind, how do we achieve it? How do we move through life, learning from our mistakes and becoming more and more like the One we seek to honor?

“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

Proverbs 3:11-12

Discipline. There may not be a word that evokes a wider variety of responses based on our individual experiences with it.

For some of us, just reading the words sends a shiver down our spine. For others, it elicits that feeling in your stomach that comes with shame, and still, others of us reflect on our own experience as the giver of discipline now that we are working to raise children of our own. Most, if not all, of the varying reactions to the word discipline can be traced back to the actions of an authority figure in our lives: a parent, a teacher, a mentor—someone who proved to us that discipline was a punishment reserved for mistakes or an empty threat to be ignored.

But not with God.

God is our perfect Father. He is not swayed to emotional outbursts or responses born from revenge, selfishness, or exhaustion. His discipline is a result of His Love and Holiness. He created you, and He loves you, and because of that, He won’t settle for you making the kind of mistakes that would separate you from Him.

Proverbs 3 illuminates this graciousness of God’s character. Look at how enamored God is with you as His son, how He longs for you to soak up all of the wisdom He is offering. Your heavenly Father knows that gaining that understanding is the way toward the life He is showing you, one that far surpasses anything you could create for yourself. His hand of discipline is always there, leading you back towards this life when you stray. Thank God that it is.

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Lord, thank You for Your discipline. Please help me to say that daily and to mean it. Teach me to see the pathways I have chosen to walk that lead me away from You and to find joy in Your hand, guiding me back. Teach me the lessons of wisdom from these wanderings so that I may see them coming in the future and choose their path instead.