Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 480 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Failure is the Best Teacher - Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 480 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek.  Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from William Saroyan says, "Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know."There is a purifying effect when you have to go through trials, tribulations, and failures. If you persevere through those times, you are able to gain a measure of goodness coupled with wisdom, insight, and understanding. Each season of trials and failures should work to make you even more resolute to continue on doing what is right, just, and fair.

Trials, tribulations, and failures are much better teachers than success if you are willing to learn the lessons that are being taught. You should never allow failure to permanently defeat you but allow it to teach you the lessons that are available. Remember to keep moving forward, learn the lessons, gain wisdom, and enjoy your journey. As Jesus’s half brother James told us in his letter in Chapter 1 verses 2-4, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.  So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Wisdom Wednesday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 479 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Attitude Check!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 479 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate us to live rich and satisfying lives this week. Today let us explore the trail called “Attitude Check.”

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching in the US, we have much to be thankful for. Our attitude about life strongly influences our level of gratitude. We should always practice an “Attitude of Gratitude” each day.  There is nothing more valuable or significant in determining our success in life than our attitude.  As we break camp and head out on our trek for today, let us invest time exploring the concept of…

Attitude Check

Earlier in my life I obtained my private pilot’s license and went on to also become instrument rated. Obtaining my pilot's license required a lot of time and expense, but I learned many lessons about life through the process. For instance, when learning to fly, a frequent term that is heard from the flight instructor is “Attitude check!” That might not mean much to you at first, or you might wonder why it would be used when flying. Why would the flight instructor care if my attitude is good?

When flying an airplane, small or large, the word “attitude” can be a life-or-death word for a pilot. It is a very important term when flying because a plane's “attitude” is its position relative to the ground, to the horizon. After many hours of flying and also reading stories about pilots that have taken off and landed on aircraft carriers, the importance of a plane's attitude can be summarized this way, “Right attitude, you keep flying. Wrong attitude, you stop flying.” And stopping in this way is not advisable.

When flying by the plane’s instruments, that is when conditions won't let you fly visually, you adjust your attitude based on an instrument called your artificial horizon. It actually shows you where the real horizon is. But when you can't see any points of reference, your senses start playing tricks on you. One veteran pilot said that even he has to sometimes fight his instincts and feelings that are telling him lies about whether he's going up or down. The only thing that's telling him the truth is his artificial horizon.

Life's like that too. The attitude that was popularized a few years ago,"If it feels good, do it," has had a disastrous effect on many an individual and on much of our society, which has become incredibly permissive. As such, we are on an ever-increasing slippery slope downward.

Feelings can be one of the most dangerous directives to follow when it comes to choosing between a right and a wrong course of action. The instrument God has given to us to keep our attitude right is His Word, the Bible. We go against His directives to our peril. As Christians, we are to do right—regardless of what our feelings tell us.

Right attitude, we keep “flying.” Wrong attitude, we “crash.” Learn to follow the instruments of life regardless of your feelings. The true instrument for our lives is the Bible. As Psalms 119:105 tells us, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." As my virtual mentor, Zig Ziglar said, "It's your attitude and not your aptitude that determines your altitude."

As we finish our trek for today, let me ask you, “Have you taken an attitude check recently?” When flying, you must constantly monitor the attitude of the plane. Should it be anything less with our own lives?

Tomorrow’s short trek is part of our Wisdom Unplugged series ...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 478 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Your Present Determines Your Future - Attitude (2)

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 478 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are in a multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. During this month of Thanksgiving, take time each day to reflect on what you are thankful for. We are thankful that the transition of consolidating our Charlotte home to Marietta has gone relatively smooth. On the day this trek is released, Paula and I will be heading back to Charlotte to invest the weekend with our family there. On Monday we will be attending the closing for our home in Charlotte. Our home was under contract two days after it was listed. We are thankful that it sold so quickly, and that a portion of this season of life will be finalized. It was a great season, but every season passes on. Our trekking between the two locations will certainly be less frequent although we do plan to visit our family there quite often.

Today on our trek we will continue on the Attitude Trail. Last Friday we explored how our past affects our attitude, and today we will focus on how our present situation and future will impact our attitude and our life.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the first trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Attitude Part 2

As a reminder, our overall extended trek will cover these five trails:

Philosophy

Attitude

Activity

Results

Lifestyle

The primary and first trail we explored was the Philosophy Trail. Your personal philosophy is the filter through which all of your decisions and choices are made. This is a very crucial element that you must establish in your life. Now let’s explore how your present situation affects your attitude trek.

1.   The Present

The current moment is where your better future begins. The past gave you a wealth of memories and experiences, and the present gives you a chance to use them wisely.

The present brings you an opportunity to create an exciting future. The promise of the future demands that you pay the price in the present. The opportunity of the current moment must be embraced, or the rewards of the future will be withheld.

Your goals and ambitions of the past are bringing to you present rewards. If your current rewards are small, then your past efforts were small. And if today’s effort is small, the future reward will be small as well. 

Today brings each of us 1,440 minutes; 86,400 ticks of the clock. Both the poor and the wealthy have the same 24 hours of opportunity. Time favors no one. Today merely says, “Here I am. What are you going to do with me?

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 477 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Bad Company Corrupts Good Character – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 477 of our trek, and it is Thursday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek.  Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Arthur S. Adams, who says, "Good character is the quality which makes one dependable whether being watched or not. Which makes one truthful when it is to one's advantage to be a little less than truthful. Which makes one courageous when faced with great obstacles. Which endows one with the firmness of wise self-discipline."

What do you think of when you hear that a person has good character? As this quote stipulates, it is a person who is dependable, truthful, courageous, and self-disciplined. This is the type of person who has a moral backbone, one whose life is built on a foundation of integrity.

To have this solid foundation of integrity is the bedrock of a person with good character.  A foundation that will withstand any temptation or obstacle regardless of how hard the winds of adversity may blow against them. We are reminded in the Bible that it is imperative to choose wisely who we invest time with. 1 Corinthians 15:33 states, "Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for 'bad company corrupts good character.'"

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.  Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Philosophy Friday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 476 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Don't Wear Yourself Out Trying to Get Rich - Proverbs 23:1-16

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 476 of our trek, and today is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the 1st half of chapter 23.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As Thanksgiving approaches during the month of November, it is a time to reflect on all the blessings we have in life. We do have much to be thankful for. While I think it is important that we have a day set aside in the US and many other countries focusing on being thankful, it should be part of our everyday life. If this is currently not a habit of yours, I encourage you to set a time aside each morning when you wake and again before you sleep to pause and reflect with gratitude on all the blessings that you have in your life. Even when life is difficult, and it is for all of us at times, there are still many things which we can be thankful for.

With a heart of gratitude, let us break camp for today and head out on our trek to explore the nuggets of wisdom which are found in the first half of Proverbs 23. We are currently in the third section of Proverbs, which covers 30 sayings of the wise. We explored five sayings last week, and today we will continue with eight more. One of those saying is:

Don’t Wear Yourself Out Trying To Get Rich.

Let’s start our trek with verse 1.

1 While dining with a ruler,

pay attention to what is put before you.

2 If you are a big eater,

put a knife to your throat;

3 don’t desire all the delicacies,

for he might be trying to trick you.

While we may not have a lot of opportunities to dine with people who are in positions of authority, this applies to any formal social gathering where you may be a guest. If you enjoy eating, as many people do, be very careful with how and what you are eating. Don’t gorge yourself, or come off as gluttonous. Even if the food seems irresistible, show constraint and eat in moderation. This may be a test to see how you react to these more formal situations.

4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.

Be wise enough to know when to quit.

5 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,

for it will sprout wings

and fly away like an eagle.

This is one of those passages that hits a bit too close to home for me. I enjoy the work that I do and am driven to accomplishing as much as I can and then some. This does not give me permission to ignore the principles that are clearly presented in these verses. We all need to show restraint in our pursuit of wealth.

If you are driven to obtain riches, this is never an excuse to abuse yourself physically, emotionally, or spiritually to obtain wealth. Wealth is so fleeting. If you are persistent, you can obtain wealth, but realize that it is so easily lost, sometimes by situations completely out of your control. We all need to be wise enough to take time for the most important aspects of life, which is not riches but relationships.

6 Don’t eat with people who are stingy;

don’t desire their delicacies.

7 They are always thinking about how much it costs.

“Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.

8 You will throw up what little you’ve eaten,

and your compliments will be wasted.

Who we invest our time with is important. The lesson in this passage refers to eating with someone that does not really have a giving heart.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 470 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

God Has Within Himself, All - Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 475 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek.  Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Thomas Brooks who tells us, "God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you."We all become so consumed with trying to control everything in our lives that we experience much anxiety and stress. This is dangerous in two respects. First, we actually have very little control over circumstances and other people. Second, it is very difficult to control ourselves, so that is the first area we need to focus. If we focus on controlling ourselves and making changes within ourselves so that we can positively impact our world, then we will have more than enough to occupy our time.

Even considering these two situations, the reality that we need to face is that God is in control of everything. He has all power and will provide us with all that we need. We need to acknowledge and accept that God will provide us with all that we will ever need. We do not need to try and control life ourselves, but have faith that God will provide us with all that we need.

2 Peter 1:2-4 - May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 474 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

20 Truths About Life

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 474 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday.  Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate you to live a rich and satisfying life this week. Today let us explore the trail called “20 Truths About Life.”

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It was a great weekend of outdoor work, indoor clean up, and most importantly, several hours with four of our grandchildren on Saturday. Any time we can invest time with our kids and grandkids is always a blessed time. We all need to realize that time is the only truly valuable asset in our lives. It is the only asset that is truly finite. How we invest our time determines the true impact that we have on our world. There is nothing more valuable. As we break camp and head out on our trek for today, let us invest time exploring the…

20 Truths About Life

It's much easier to talk about the weather, sports, politics, and celebrities than your fear of mortality. Unfortunately, the more time you invest pretending that ultimate truths don't exist, the more time you waste not being your authentic self and getting the most out of every precious second.

Time, not money, is your most valuable asset. Allow the list below to ignite the spark of motivation you need to make better use of the time you have impacting your world.

Sometimes we need to head into the storm to appreciate the light and have a renewed passion for the beauty of life.

Here are 20 truths about life that every person needs to hear.

You're going to die, and you have no idea when.

Stop pretending that you're invincible. Acknowledge the fact of your own mortality, and then start structuring your life in a more meaningful way.

Everyone you love is going to die, and you don't know when.

This truth may be saddening at first, but it also gives you permission to make amends with past difficulties and re-establish meaningful relationships with important figures in your life.

Your material wealth won't make you a better or happier person.

Even if you're one of the lucky ones who achieves his or her materialistic dreams, money only amplifies that which was already present.

Your obsession with finding happiness is what prevents its attainment.

Happiness is always present in your life--it's just a matter of connecting to it and allowing it to flow through you that's challenging.

Donating money does less than donating time.

Giving your time is a way to change your perception and create a memory for yourself and others that will last forever.

You can't make everyone happy, and if you try, you'll lose yourself.

Stop trying to please, and start respecting your values, principles, and autonomy.

You can't be perfect, and holding yourself to unrealistic standards creates suffering.

Many perfectionists have unrelenting inner critics that are full of so much rage and self-hate that it tears them apart inside. Fight back against that negative voice, amplify your intuition, and start challenging your unrealistic standards.

Your thoughts are less important than your feelings, and your feelings need acknowledgment.

Intellectually thinking through your problems isn't as helpful as expressing the feelings that create your ...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 473 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Don't Let Your Past Destroy You - Attitude Part 1

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 473 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are in a multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are getting settled in well with consolidating our homes. There are still items that need to be stored and a few pieces of furniture that we are giving away, but overall it is settling down. It has been a smooth transition, and we are glad that we made this decision. With most decisions that each of us make, the success or failure of those decisions is impacted significantly on our attitude about that decision. Attitude is one of the largest factors in how our lives turn out.

Today on our trek we are switching trails from developing a powerful personal philosophy, which is the foundation for our lives, to another trail, which is our attitude. If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the first trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Attitude Part 1

As a reminder, our overall extended trek will cover these five trails:

Philosophy

Attitude

Activity

Results

Lifestyle

Last week we finished up our primary trail, which covered all the steps needed to develop a Powerful Personal Philosophy. This is the very foundation on which your life is built. Your personal philosophy is the filter through which all of your decisions and choices are made. This is a very crucial element that you must establish in your life. As we continue our trek today, we will focus on your attitude and how your past affects that attitude.

Your life is greatly affected by what you know since what you know determines the decisions you will make. Just as you are affected by what you know, you are also affected by how you feel.

While philosophy deals essentially with the logical side of your life, that is to say, your information and thinking habits, attitude focuses primarily on the emotional issues that affect your existence. What you know determines your philosophy. How you feel about what you know determines our attitude.

It is your emotional nature that governs most of your daily conduct in your personal and business worlds. It is the emotional aspect of your experiences that determines your behavior. How you feel about life’s events is a powerful force that can either freeze you in your tracks or inspire you to take immediate action on any given day.

Like thoughts, emotions have the capacity to propel you toward future fortune or future disaster. The feelings you carry within you about people, your work, your home, your finances, and about the world around you collectively form your attitude.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 472 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Who Knows the Future? - Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 472 of our trek, and it is Thursday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek.  Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Matthew Henry, who says, "God has wisely kept us in the dark concerning future events and reserved for himself the knowledge of them, that he may train us up in a dependence upon himself and a continued readiness for every event."

We all think we would like to know what the future holds, and yet as we look back on our lives, many of us realize that it may have been best for us to not know. Our trail of life is full of unexpected twists, turns, and obstacles that we would never have anticipated nor desired. Yet the experiences of life have shaped and refined us into the person that we are today. Without both the good and bad situations we would not have known life in all of its fullness. Although we do not know what the future holds, if we have faith in God, we will know who knows the future, and it is set. As Romans 8:28-30 relates to us, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory."

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you would like access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.  Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal 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.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Philosophy Friday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 471 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Sayings of the Wise - Proverbs 22:17-29

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 471 of our trek, and today is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the 2nd half of chapter 22.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We continue to make good progress with both the outdoor fall cleanup and the indoor unpacking. It is good to have the time to accomplish all that needs to be done without being too rushed. Our client work requirements remain strong as we focus on the financial and technology work that keeps the back ends of their businesses running smoothly.

It is wise for every individual and business to make sure they have a solid financial foundation. As we break camp for our trek today, let us explore the nuggets of wisdom found in the second half of Proverbs 22. This section of Proverbs is referred to as…

Sayings of the Wise

Let’s start our trek with verses 17-21.

17 Listen to the words of the wise;

apply your heart to my instruction.

18 For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart

and always ready on your lips.

19 I am teaching you today—yes, you—

so you will trust in the Lord.

20 I have written thirty sayings for you,

filled with advice and knowledge.

21 In this way, you may know the truth

and take an accurate report to those who sent you.

A third major section of the Book of Proverbs begins with Proverbs 22:17. This is clear from several indicators. The proverbs lengthen out again from the typical one-verse couplet that characterizes Proverbs 10:1 to Proverbs 22:16. The emphasis changes somewhat in Proverbs 22:17 to Proverbs 24:34, which includes the fourth collection of proverbs and focuses on the importance of applying the instructions previously given.

 

22 Don’t rob the poor just because you can,

or exploit the needy in court.

23 For the Lord is their defender.

He will ruin anyone who ruins them.

These verses contain a strong warning about taking advantage of other people, just because you may have the power or resources to do so. This applies both to business as well as within our legal systems. God will ultimately be their defender, and anyone who takes advantage of others will eventually get their just punishment for doing so.

 

24 Don’t befriend angry people

or associate with hot-tempered people,

25 or you will learn to be like them

and endanger your soul.

The old axiom “Birds of a feather flock together” is certainly true. We become like those that we invest time with. My mom used to say “If you lie down with dogs, don’t be surprised when you get up with fleas.” We need to be very careful whom we invest time with because the return on our investment will reflect those choices.

 

26 Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt

or put up security for someone else.

27 If you can’t pay it,

even your bed will be snatched from under you.

Once again Solomon warns us about the danger of borrowing money, especially co-signing for another person’s debt. This is very unwise from every aspect. If the person you co-sign a loan for cannot pay, you will have to pay it. Or your credit will be ruined, and you will lose your personal property that is not even associated with what you co-signed for, so it will be a double loss.