This thread is for posting your thoughts, comments, and questions on Proverbs 13 from our daily Bible readings.

Click here to read the passage at Bible Gateway.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick". That could potentially be my theme verse. Lol.

Today's reading reinforces God's promise that if we are patient, and if we keep our eye on Him no matter how mighty the storms around us blow, we will be strenthened. Throughout GCN's site, love and compassion dominate the topics. I haven't ready anything that is hateful or that attacks groups which oppose us. The discussion of those groups is respectful and Godly, as it should be.

This reading is one of the ways I know that GCN is from God. The members are living Proverbs 13.

Steve

For awhile, I admittedly have been resting on my laurels instead of reaching for any sort of new success or milestones. I have gotten lazy whereas in the past I used to strive to be excellent every single day.

After my break-up, I think I just didn't seem to care. But, this week, something changed in me; not only did I find all of you here at GCN, but I found myself feeling happy again--a little lighthearted.

Today's study really speaks to me in terms of what I--and we--should be doing. After studying these passages tonight, I realized God wants me to get up and start working at being the best I can be again. He needs me to use my voice and my gifts in journalism to lead and bless others.

While there are so many truths in the passages of Proverbs 13, here are a few that really stick out for me:

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This passage is particularly useful because I have been searching for ways to turn around my finances, researching a lot into things I obviously shouldn't consider. Clearly, Christ is trying to show me diligent work and a steady resolve will help deliver me more success over time.

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This is good for me to remind myself why I am at GCN, when before, I was sadly addicted to less wholesome pursuits online. I think my younger brother, who I just spoke with about his pot use, could use this one.

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I can throw this one at the parents of bratty kids in public now--LOL, okay, I am kidding. But, I think it will be one I can use when I debate the merits of spanking children. (I have this one frequently, believe it or not.)

I don't know if I am allowed to post on this forum but I'd like to if that's alright.
I'm Peter by the way and I'm new to GCN , I'm sixteen years old.
I agree with what Steve wrote , I know that when I keep my sights on God he never lets me down and when I look back I can always see his hand working in my life.

Peter.

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Peter, you can post ANYWHERE you'd like. (well, some require membership--like regional boards, Side B board, etc.)

Ok thank you Brandon :-)

verse 10 - Pride only breeds quarrels,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Always good to remember

I have always loved Proverbs because of the sound advice I find within its words. I continually striving to know God, through a drug recovery program and through His word. I just recently bought Rebecca st. james " Pure" which focuses on purity of the mind, body and spirit. The verse today discussed our God-worth, we are extravagantly loved. I know what ever happens today that I will " praise Him in the storm". I am grateful that once again I can start off my day...focusing on God's love. It is wonderful to see Gay christians.....we are many.!

• Vizionary said:

Ah! I love this verse now that you've pointed it out, but it's not a Proverb that I had been familiar with. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life" (13:12). I think it's that basic message that we all need hope. There's another aspect to it, though, in the 19th verse. "A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil." The contrast there strikes me, seeming to suggesting that maybe our hopes or desires are sometimes placed in the wrong things. What sort of things do we hope for, or put our hope in?

Verses 10 also stuck out to me. "Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice." Here, wisdom doesn't speak so much as it listens. Wisdom is always trying to learn, trying to gain understanding. But then in verse 14 we see that the "teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." Here we see wisdom in a speaking role, but it's not presented as a role for us to claim. (At least in my reading.) Instead, we are the man who can be turned from the snares of death by the teaching of the wise, just as we are wise when we take advice. I see this as an extension of the idea that we should not be wise in our own eyes.

Regarding Proverbs 13:24, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him", I think this actually can serve as a good tool to demonstrate how people read scripture. My parents (and many parents in the churches I grew up in) were big believers in "spare the rod, spoil the child", and they understood it to demonstrate the value of spanking their children. Now, without commenting about whether or not spanking is right or wrong, I think this really shows what a "literal" reading of scripture looks like. The idea that the rod is symbolic for discipline in itself and not some kind of rule about how to discipline children seems to not occur to a lot of fundamentalists. It's ludicrous to assert that someone hates their son if they don't spank him - but it's also ridiculous to think that just because someone doesn't spank their child means that they don't discipline them in other ways. We're so used to reading scripture through this very odd lense, though... and it can be difficult to even notice when we do those kinds of things.

Just some thoughts...