It has been said there is no shortcut to success, and this is true! We reflect on the wisdom of hard work in this chapter. God has given us our strength, intellect, hands and feet to do good work. Let us honor the Lord by making good use of all that he has given to us.

We are wise to recognze how the people we surround ourselves with affect the trajectory of our lives. While we want to be friendly with all, in order to win some with the gospel, we are also careful to spend much time with people whose goals and aspirations are similar to ours. This protects us from ungodliness and prepares us for greater service in the Lord's kingdom.

We explore different cultural motivations for generosity. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to demonstrate their faith by giving gladly to the saints who were impoverished by a famine in Judea. We consider how our own notions of generosity square with Biblical wisdom, so that we too may excel in godly generosity.

God's Word is life for His people, because only in His Word does He reveal His wisdom, His will and His ways to us. When we live into HIs Way and speak His Words, we are a blessing to others in both this life and the next.

We consider the earthly and eternal blessings of living our lives with a 10,000 year perspective. When we share Christ's love and righteousness with others, they are blessed both now and forever. This gives us great reason to live godly lives by investing ourselves in the eternal welfare of others.

The Greek Justice system was more interested in restoring relationships, and holding others accountable in healthy social systems. The "Bema," or, "Judgement Seat," was a place where legal decrees were made in the interest of reconciliation within healthy accountability systems. The goal was not to win or punish, but rather to restore social order that was threatened by crime or deviations from accepted societal norms and traditions that promoted the welfare of all.

Anger, hate and greed. These three attitudes define our age. In this chapter, we learn God's response to sinful selfishness.

Twin parables in this chapter highlight the blessing of wisdom and the curse of foolishness. The proverbs excel at highlighting competing worldly wisdom and God's way. One leads to life. The other to death in all sorts of forms.