Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 318 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Hiding Hatred – Proverbs [10:18]-22

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 318 of our trek. Yesterday and for the next few days, we are going to remain in camp around the campfire as we continue digging for the nuggets of wisdom that are found in the book of Proverbs. So far we have explored the first 17 verses of Chapter 10, and we will continue to cover a few verses each day. This section of Proverbs compares and contrasts bite size nuggets of wisdom that apply to everyday life. I know that you will enjoy it as we learn together.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The week of work and activities is fairly brisk as we work with our various clients and the projects we are involved with. For one of our major clients, we provide on-demand remote software support, and we never know how much time that will consume in a day. So we have to be flexible and shift between the other projects. I have to admit there are some days that it makes it difficult to switch focus between them all and still be as productive as I would like.

Today we will remain in camp again and as we talk with each other about life, it is important to keep in mind that our words have a huge impact on others, even when we don’t realize it. I certainly have fallen prey to this many times. This is why we should make sure to choose our words wisely and sparingly. Few people have gotten into trouble by speaking too little, but we certainly understand how easy it is to say the wrong thing when we speak too much. Many of the wisdom nuggets that we will dig for today have to do with our words.

We start with the subject of…

Hiding Hatred – Proverbs [10:18]-22

¹⁸Hiding hatred makes you a liar;
slandering others makes you a fool.

You might ask, how does hiding hatred make you a liar? I think we all know people that are nice to our face, but we know that they really dislike us. We may do the same thing to others. So, how do we make sure that we do not continue this habit ourselves? Frist, we should forgive other people. Even when someone hurts us, we should not hate that person. Instead, we should pray for them.

If we truly do dislike or hate a person, but are nice to them to their face, then we are a liar. When we hate another person, we are really destroying and enslaving ourselves. We are controlled and trapped by our internal hatred. We need to learn to let it go and to forgive, even if they don’t ask for it or deserve it. To forgive is to set ourselves free. Christ certainly forgave us even though we do not deserve it.

Closely related to this is when we slander others. Slandering others really does make us a fool. Anyone who hears your slander will realize that they are probably the target of it when they are not around. We need to stop gossiping and talking ill about others. We should encourage and build them up.

¹⁹Too much talk leads to sin.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

This verse really describes most of us well. We all love to hear ourselves talk and expound on our wisdom. We give advice, when none is asked for. We become an expert in areas that have no true experience in. During many a conversation, we go on and on and on, usually about ourselves. When we don’t control our talk, inevitably it will result in saying too much, or the wrong thing, at the wrong time, to the wrong person. It will lead us to sin. Contrasting that, if we learn to keep our mouths shut, especially when many others are still speaking, then we will become wise and sensible…or at least, appear that way.

²⁰The words of the godly are like sterling silver;
the heart of a fool is worthless.

As we learn to only speak when it is appropriate and only speak what is necessary at that moment, we will become more good and godly. Then when we do speak, it will have an effective influence and bring value to others, just like the value of pure silver. Contrasting that is the fool. This person prattles on so much that the quality of their speech becomes worthless due to the quantity of the speech.

²¹The words of the godly encourage many,
but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

As we learn to control the quantity and quality of our words, then they will become effective and powerful. Instead of insulting others with our speech, we will encourage others. Our words will be good and godly.  On the contrasting side of that are those who speak foolishly.  When you speak too much, and speak what is not appropriate, it will reveal your lack of common sense. A truly wise person with good sense does not have to speak a lot for others to realize they are wise.

²²The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it.

To shift our focus a bit now, we see that our true riches do come from the Lord and are provided as blessings to us. These could be financial riches, but there is so much more in life that truly make us rich. As Christ followers, whether we have little or much materially, we should be rejoicing daily in all the blessings that we do have. The Lord wants us to live a rich and satisfying life – one that contains no sorrow. Choose to live abundantly today.

Today we dug up five more precious nuggets of wisdom. Four of them deal with controlling what we say and when we say it. The fifth allows us to understand that our blessings do come from the Lord with no sorrow. Let them permeate your thoughts and impact your life so that your living legacy will shine through for everyone to see. We will continue with a few more nuggets of wisdom from Chapter 10 tomorrow, so encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!