If you want to see if a piece of fruit is good, squeeze it, cut into it, and see what comes out. And when our heart is open before God, the Holy Spirit comes and transforms it. Here we identify 5 things the Holy Spirit does in our hearts: Convicts us of sin, give us strength to resist temptation, comforts us, gives us gifts and abilities, and empowers us.

Proverbs 3:11-12, Matthew 18:15-17

Luke 24:13-35

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Romans 1:5 and 16:26

A huge problem we face is living an unexamined life. We do whatever feels right to us in the moment, but it often comes back to haunt us. What we see in the Bible is that God is longing for us to break our conformity with the world, and be transformed by the Spirit. In doing so, we gain discernment, the ability to use good judgement and wise counsel to make good decisions.

From Proverbs 1, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Instead of asking, "How close to sin can I get without it being a sin," we are learning to ask, "Lord, help me get as far away from sin and temptation as possible."

How do we grow in wisdom and skill? What kind of man or woman do we want to become? What are the things we need to do or avoid to make that a reality?

These are the guiding questions as we look at Proverbs 4, where we God longing to give us wisdom for our benefit.

John 4

What does it mean to be great? Jesus teaches and models for us to be a leader rather than a boss. Where can you give your benefits, privilege, and power for someone else's good? Where can you serve? Where can you humbly accept affirmation, and pass it forward?