Friends and family have always been powerful forces for a person who wants to grow wiser. Sadly, friends and family can also be powerful in the disintegration of a life too. How do you know who to lean into and who to lean away from? What kind of friends have you put around yourself? What kind of friend are you?

Our words are powerful! Our words can heal or wound, build up or tear down, bring life or carry death. That’s why Proverbs takes so much time to teach us how to use our words well. Good, life-giving words are honest, kind, fitting … and few.

We need good relationships to thrive. The problem is that relationships tend to break down—they need regular maintenance and repair! In the book of Proverbs, we find some basic principles for keeping our relationships strong.

Solomon didn’t want his kids to be slugs! He told them to look really closely at God’s created world and see the way that the world is designed. Among the tiniest of creatures, the ants were a great picture of work without coercion. Without a boss, these littlest creatures get things done! Jesus picked up on that. If there were ever a person who could have been justified with being served and taking it easy, it would have been Jesus, God in a bod. But he lived differently than anyone expected.

Solomon wants to talk to his boys about sex and how to enjoy it and avoid lifelong hurt and regret. Sex isn't the easiest thing to talk with your kids about! But Solomon steps up and talks to them as adults and counsels adult behaviour from them. The Bible isn’t shy about sex, nor is it flippant; instead, it's joyful and careful. Let’s do our best to follow suit.

Proverbs teaches us that the wisdom we need for life is found in a relationship with God. We give him our whole hearts, and he blesses us with his love. It’s amazing!

Today’s sermon offers a warning against the external and internal voices that we listen to and act upon. We need to be cautious of what voices we listen to and recognize the dangers of ‘following the crowd.’ We also need to pay attention to the internal voices acting against God’s will, such as greed and self-fulfillment.

What is the secret to living life well? The book of Proverbs gives us God’s answer to that question: wisdom. But what is wisdom? And how do we get it? The introduction to Proverbs shows us that wisdom needs humility, takes effort, and it begins with Jesus.

The letter to the Ephesians ends with a surprise assignment - warfare! Part of God’s extravagance with us is to invite us into His epic battle against the powers of evil and the evil one’s ’schemes.’ Jesus talks about these things and our ‘surprise’ role in it. He sends us out like sheep among wolves! That’s rather shocking. You may also be underwhelmed by the weapons you’ve been given. Don’t second guess God; His armour has real firepower!

The extravagant love God showed us in Jesus has to show up in our everyday lives. In today’s passage, Paul explains how love plays out in our closest and most ordinary relationships: kids and parents, bosses and workers, husbands and wives. For Christians, love means submission. Submission means choosing the other over ourselves. We submit to each other because Jesus did it for us, and the power we have to do it is His Spirit alive in us.