by Dr. Larry Poland

Hollywood is known for its beautiful and seductive women.  They are everywhere – from the Playmates circling the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, to the sirens who walk the red carpet dressed in scant nothingness on Oscar night, to the bare vixens who sell their bodies and souls to the world’s largest “adult entertainment” industry.

Solomon knew a thing or two about seductive women.  His harem numbered a thousand hand-picked beauties, and he authored the Bible’s handbook of sensuality, The Song of Solomon.  Interesting, then, that he follows his warnings about the adulteress in Proverbs 7 and his lauding of the glories of Wisdom in Chapter 8 with alarm about another scary babe (or dude) named Folly, a.k.a. Stupidity.

For sure, Folly is the most destructive seducer of all.  If you don’t believe it, you haven’t visited Las Vegas, or the dives of any major city, or the secret hideaways of Manhattan.  But Folly also attends church board meetings, workplace committee meetings, financial investing seminars, and dinner table arguments.  She is deadly, and . . . she’s not always a “she.”  Solomon makes both Wisdom and Folly feminine as a literary device, but neither gender has any claim of ownership.

One reason Folly, a. k. a. Stupidity, is so seductive is that she’s impressively prominent.  She holds “a seat at the highest point of the city.”  If corporate titans and politicians were wise, society would be very different.

Wisdom Principle #41 – Stupidity is an expression of the dominant world view which parades as “conventional thinking”; only divine insight will help you recognize and transcend it.

Proverbs says three attributes explain Stupidity’s success at seduction and destruction.  She (1) preys on the simple and ignorant, (2) has no respect for what is not hers, and (3) operates in utmost secrecy.

Wisdom Principle  #42 – Wisdom always strengthens the weak and lifts the downtrodden; Stupidity exploits both.

Wisdom Principle #43 – Wisdom always respects the person, feelings, dignity, and possessions of others; Stupidity tramples them.

We might call it the ‘Al Qaeda Syndrome.”  It’s the tendency to operate in the shadows, in secret, and in hidden cells plotting evil.  Stupidity thrives on encrypted memos, clandestine meetings, and the cover of darkness.  The wise and righteous person lives life in the light and in the open.  It never fears investigation or disclosure.

Wisdom Principle #44 – The wise and righteous life never fears examination . . . of its datebook, checkbook, closet, or computer hard drive.

Avoid Folly – he/she will do you in.  His/Her dwelling is filled with corpses (9:18).

“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered.”
– Proverbs 12:9 (NIV)

“Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways.”
– Proverbs 23:26 (NIV)

by Dr. Larry Poland

On February 14 of each year, we celebrate Valentine’s Day, and stores are filled with a seemingly infinite variety of items that are red, heart-shaped, or carry messages of love – everything from bon bons to boxer shorts.  It’s a celebration of the motivations of the heart.

Clearly, the heart is a whole lot more than that incredible machine inside our chests which pumps enough blood in an average lifetime to fill a string of railroad tank cars fifty miles long.  In this context, the heart is the center of our affections, the core of our being, the real “us,” and we recognize its importance.  We talk of a good heart, a soft heart, a hard heart, a big heart, a tender heart, a kind heart, an evil heart, and a heart for God.

Wisdom Principle #38: An unguarded heart will destroy your life and run away with your soul.

Wisdom dictates that this center of our feelings and affections be managed well, or it can lead us into big trouble.  The Scriptures describe what could be called “spiritual heart disease” – lethal symptoms coming from a heart that is not attuned to God’s law and character.

The most common symptom of this heart disease is illicit relationships.  If the seat or our feelings/emotions is not guarded, it will lead us into affairs of the heart.  We will lust after beauty, wealth, power, perversity, or our neighbor’s spouse.  This is why we are to watch over it “with diligence.”

Wisdom Principle #39: The road to destruction meanders through three cities: Heart, Mind, and Spirit and stays too long in Heart.  The road to life goes directly to Spirit, in the same township as Mind.

We humans have been give three guidance systems–a spirit, a brain, and a heart.  The spirit is expressed in the conscience, reason in the brain, and emotions in the heart.  It is absolutely essential that power be given to each in this order of priority.  A person whose brain gets ahead of his conscience will become an intelligent evildoer, and one whose heart gets ahead of both will become a catastrophe of feelings-directed, immoral foolishness.  This is why Proverbs declares it foolhardy to trust your heart. Wisdom is living by spirit-guided reason, regardless of what the heart says.

Wisdom Principle #40:  Only the heart surrendered to God realizes its deepest desires; self-managed hearts get broken and break the hearts of others.

The only successful way to live is to surrender one’s heart to God.  He made it and promises to give us its desires as a reward for obedience.

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
— Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)

“Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant, than pretend to be somebody and have no food.”
— Proverbs 12:9 (NIV)

“. . . Man is tested by the praise he receives,”
— Proverbs 27:21b (NIV)

Years ago, when I hosted a Donahue-style TV talk show syndicated in Canada, the producer told me, “We can make you a household name in ninety days.”  I noticed that my head swelled slightly at the thought.  Celebrity can do that.

Wisdom Principle #35: The same wind that puffs an ego blows away one’s potential for true honor.

Pride is something the Scriptures says God “hates.”  He hates even a “proud look.”  Why is pride such a big, bad deal to God?  There are lots of reasons.  Pride causes us to look down on others and push them down, hold a dangerously exaggerated view of ourselves, demand to be served rather than to serve and – worst of all – steal glory due only to God.  E-G-O is “edging God out.”

Proverbs 11:2 creates an equation which, basically, says, “Pride is to disgrace as humility is wisdom.”  This equation reveals a positive correlation between the size of one’s ego and the probability of humiliation.  Thus, arrogance is, in the end, really stupid.

Wisdom Principle #36: Success can’t be equated with adulation.  A miserably-indebted celebrity is far worse off than a well-served, debt-free nobody.

In a New York Times article, Brad Pitt talked about being a celebrity: “We can get away with things that other people can’t, and you start to believe the lie that you are special, that you’re better than other people.  You start demanding that kind of treatment.  Most of the time I fight it, because I know I’m going to get older and it’s going to go away, but at times I succumb to it.”  Proverbs 12:9 confirms Brad’s perspective.  Praise fades.  Character, wisdom and righteous gain don’t.

Fame is not a friend and, as such, should not be pursued.  Solomon had his share of it and knew that the praise of people is a horrible trial . . .  like a crucible for silver or a furnace for trying gold (27:21a).

Wisdom Principle #37: Those who feed on their praise are plunging headlong into the greatest fiery test of their lives.  Not many will survive with their souls intact.

“A divine decision is in the lips of the king; his mouth should not err in judgment.”
– Proverbs 16:10 (NIV)

by Dr. Larry Poland

All professionals recognize that people at the top of their industries possess significant power and influence.  Stories of the use and misuse of this power are everywhere.  Sometimes, the lust for this power becomes an intoxicant — a seductive potion to the powerless.  And the misuse of this power destroys lives.

It is less common for those of us lower on the food chain to realize that the power and authority we hold can also be a weapon to destroy or a tool to build.  We may forget that God is the one who sets people in positions of responsibility and holds them accountable for the way they use their power and authority.  Romans 13:1 declares that “there is no authority except that which God has established.”  If this is true in general, how much more is this true of the authority loaned to those who are children of the King.

Wisdom Principle #33: All authority – in home, office or elsewhere – vests with God and is loaned to us as a sacred trust to be used as He would use it for His purposes alone.

When I once told an employee with a major Hollywood studio that one of the top execs was a Christian, he said, “I’ve never liked her, and I am really surprised to hear that.”  I know the woman well, and I doubt that she used her authority in an evil or capricious manner.  It is possible, however, that she operated in a manner so similar in fashion to that of the non-Christian execs that there was no qualitative difference.  This, in itself, is an indictment.  Proverbs 16:10 above makes it clear that authority should be channel for passing along “divine decisions” and in a manner that is unerringly trustworthy.

Wisdom Principle #34: Authority in the hands of a believer is neither a bludgeon to pound others into submission nor a knife to cut them down; it is a divinely designed instrument of guidance and instruction for building them.

Ask yourself regularly, “Do I exercise my authority in a manner that reflects the One from whom it comes?”  “Do those under my authority see God’s wisdom and character in me and in the way I handle my power over them?”  If the answer is “no,” don’t be surprised if God takes his authority back!

– Proverbs 21:1 (NIV)

by Dr. Larry Poland

“I just can’t figure out where he’s coming from.”  “The two of us just can’t seem to get on the same page.”  “The way she thinks . . . it’s so weird, that I just can’t seem to get through to her.”

These lines sound familiar?  I’ve heard them in marriage counseling sessions, from teenagers frustrated with their parents, and from people at their wits ends over their bosses or coworkers.

Wisdom Principle #30: Seeking to change other people’s thinking is an exercise in futility, unless they direct their wills toward the change; it’s a goal that should never be pursued unaided.

Sometimes, we think the world would be a better place—or at least would go better for us—if we could just change the way other people think!  At the same time, I don’t know anyone who would welcome the thought of someone having the ability to change the way we think.  This would be terrorizing.  It smacks of a horror movie in which some monstrous dictator has found the secret to mind control.

Despite all this, we waste a lot of time trying to change the way people think, do we not?  From selling to evangelism, from contract negotiations to romantic relationships we take on this mission.  All of these, of course, involve persuasion and influence, but they should never be reduced to an attempt to change a mind.

Wisdom Principle #31: Only God has the power and the access to a people’s hearts and inner thoughts sufficient to change their minds.

The believer possesses, however, an incredible power unavailable to those outside the faith, the true Power to change minds!  The passage cited above provides the key–the Lord holds the heart and mind of even the most powerful in His hand, and He can direct the thinking wherever He wills!  This means, then, that as we pray to, submit to, and trust God for changes in others that fit His will, they will come.  Incredible.

Wisdom Principle #32: It is folly to ask God to change the thinking of others until we are first willing to have Him change our own.

Over and over, I’ve watched anxious, bitter, striving people finally surrender their efforts to change the thinking of another . . . to God.  Over and over, I’ve watched Him close in on the other person’s evil, aberrant, stubborn thought processes and bring about change in thinking—or situations which force it!  It seems that God commonly waits to change the other person until we get our egos, our striving, and our manipulations out of His way.  He wants our minds to change first.

So, why not turn the “mind change” efforts over to God?  It is through Him that the Power is unleashed to “ take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (I Corinthians 10:5).

“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
— Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)

 by Dr. Larry Poland

Ah, the media biz.  Is it not the world’s “Beauty Obsession Center?”  Cosmetic surgery.  Endless makeovers.  Outrageously-priced clothing and hair care.  Rodeo Drive and Fifth Avenue with “personal shoppers” who seduce the gullible through promises of everlasting attractiveness.  It’s the place where “You’re looking great (or beautiful)” is said before “Hello.”

Wisdom Principle #27:  Preoccupation with physical appearance is, ultimately, an exercise in futility; a focus on inner beauty has eternal benefits.

As a person who’s lived seven decades, I discover that fewer and fewer people are calling me “handsome” or “good looking.”  The inevitable toll of the years whittles away at any natural, physical comeliness God may have given us, and all the cosmetic efforts in the universe can’t stop the whittling.  Let’s face it, physical ugliness is inevitable.  Not many beautiful faces in nursing homes!  Proverbs calls physical attractiveness “fleeting.”

For this reason, God places emphasis on inner beauty.  “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart,” says I Samuel 16:7.

Wisdom Principle #28: A glowing countenance reflects the beauty of the soul, and increases with age and spiritual growth.

The Scriptures place a strong emphasis on the “countenance,” the part of the appearance that reflects the heart and which is independent of physical beauty.  Every film or TV director or DP will tell you some people have “countenance” and some don’t.  It’s that “sparkle” or “glow” that makes a person magnetic, even through a camera lens.

A beautiful countenance is the reflection of the light of the human spirit.  Bill Gothard hypothesizes that a subconscious reason immoral women dress immodestly is to draw attention away from the darkness in their countenances.  We’ve all seen the physically handsome or beautiful people with the “hollow eyes” of a heart in bondage.  The countenance is a window to the soul.

Wisdom Principle #29: To improve your appearance dramatically, get a “spiritual makeover” — a “faith lift.”

A spiritual makeover may cost you dearly, but it won’t be in dollars.  It’ll be in confessed, and forgiven, sins.

“The eye that mocks a father that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens . . . will be eaten by the vultures. .”
– Proverbs 30:17 (NIV)

by Dr. Larry Poland

What an embarrassment it was to discover that the Book of Proverbs had a specific category for one of my main character weaknesses: mockery!  Decades ago, I was enjoying what I thought was some lighthearted banter at the expense of one of my professional associates, when he declared, “You’re a mocker, a scoffer.  You ought to check out what Proverbs says about that.”  My curiosity piqued, I did check it out, and the teaching cut like a knife.

Wisdom Principle #24:  The mocker uses ridicule, putdowns, sarcasm or mimicry to belittle others; the righteous person builds them up.

Let’s face it, scoffing and mockery are at the heart of most television sitcoms.  Most are little more than verbal jousting matches in which the one with the most lethal mockery wins.  Never mind that most of us bear the scars on our souls of parents or peers who scoffed at us.  Never mind that a weak self image is commonly the result of stinging remarks from mockers and scoffers.  We still reduce others to rubble through mockery.

Wisdom Principle  #25: When relationships are marked by strife, seek out the mockers and eliminate them.  If you don’t, they will continually stir the relational pot.

Proverbs makes it clear that mockers/scoffers are at the heart of other interpersonal relationship problems.  We are told that if the mocker/ scoffers are rooted out of a group, they will take with them, “strife, quarrels and insults.”  It makes sense.  Nobody likes to be put down–no matter how it’s done–and mockery in humor is often thinly-veiled violence.  So, the object of scoffing reacts, defends, and strikes back . . . and the war is on.

Wisdom Principle #26:  If we don’t replace mockery of authority with joyful submission to and respect for it, it could cost us dearly.

Interesting, isn’t it, that Proverbs 30:17 (above) describes the objects of mockery as authority figures, in particular, parents?  This may well explain why comedy commonly belittles the police, the military, the boss, the politicians, and even Mom, Dad and God.  Could mockery be a coverup for inner rebellion against the authority over us?

The scary part of this wisdom teaching is the hard consequence promised to mockers and scoffers–becoming carrion for vultures!  It’s the same violent end that faced the Sons of Korah when they rebelled against the authority structure (Num. 16:25-33).  At God’s command, the earth swallowed them!  Authorities typically move with force to destroy those who mock them!

To deal with my tendency to mockery, I actually had to cancel my subscription to a Christian satire magazine, invoke God’s help, and dull my spoken “cutting edge.”  You may have to do the same.

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning.”
– Proverbs 15:31 (NIV)

People from other cultures have one devastating observation about Americans: we are lousy listeners. If this is true, we are also lousy learners.

For most Americans, listening could be defined as “that awkward span of time when I am unable to talk and, therefore, must concentrate on what I will say when the opportunity to speak arises again.” Someone has said that people don’t learn a thing when they are speaking, and I know I don’t. I’ve heard everything I have to say, and I admit that hearing myself repeat it is not a personal growth experience!

God’s wisdom declares listening to be a crucial element in growth and learning. In one of the passages above, Proverbs draws a direct link between the two. How many times as a father of six have I said, “You just don’t listen!” I wonder how often God screams from the heavens to the more than seven billion people on His planet, “You just don’t listen!”

Wisdom Principle #21: Refusing to listen is refusing to learn. The broad road to ignorance and folly is paved with inattention.

Amazing things happen when we listen to people. Some time ago, I had a person I consider a casual acquaintance refer to me as one of his “best friends.” After the comment, I tried to figure out how I got into that highly honored category of “best friend.” I decided it was because I have spent a lot of time listening to him. He read my attention as an act of deep friendship. Even the school of “non-directive counseling” lauds the therapeutic effects of just listening!

In marriage, I have learned the high cost of not listening when my wife or children need someone to give them full concentration. They clearly do not feel affirmed, important, or even valued without it. Listening shows we value the speaker and the content. While speaking to a local civic club last week, a man in the center of the room took a cell phone call and carried on a loud conversation in competition with my speaking. To say the least, I did not feel valued by this man.

Wisdom Principle #22: Giving full attention to others or their counsel shows that we value both them and their content. Not doing so, at the very least, shows arrogance or contempt.

There are, however, limits on wise listening. The Apostle Paul said there are some acts of evil so vile that they should not even be mentioned (Ephesians. 5:12). Presumably, that vileness shouldn’t be listened to either. A top media executive once began sharing true-but-scandalous information about his network’s chairman with me. I told him, “I’m not sure I want the accountability of knowing this.” It’s good to close our ears to evil speaking (17:4).

Wisdom Principle #23: Ears are windows to the soul. Listen to righteousness and grow spiritually wise; listen to evil and reap spiritual destruction.

Try listening more this week, to God and others. They’ll both be glad you did!

- Dr. Larry Poland

“A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.”
– Proverbs 12:16 (NIV)

As a 27-year-old college president with no little amount of arrogance and a lot to learn, I got a number of insulting, and often anonymous, letters.  Since my godly father always taught me, “Don’t ever write anything to anyone you’re not man enough to sign,” I trashed the unsigned missiles.

I mentioned in an earlier post that one day I read in II Samuel 16 of King David’s being cursed publicly by a man named Shimei and of David’s mature response, “Let him speak. God told him to curse me!” (my paraphrase).  That was a new concept: not just that God might permit people to rebuke or correct us for our benefit, but, even worse, to insult or curse us!  So, I started reading all my hate mail with a new perspective.  It was revolutionary!  Some of my worst and most ill-motivated critics were telling me things my friends wouldn’t.  I was picking up valuable tips from them!

In a cultural climate in which put-downs, mean-spirited humor, and sarcastic mockers reign, it is important to learn the value of the curse or insult.

Wisdom Principle #17:  We expose our character, either foolish or wise, by the way we handle curses and insults.

The Proverbs 9:7 passage above describes the response of reacting to an insult, rather than responding to it, as behavior typical of a “mocker.”  Wise people aren’t mockers, they’re learners.  Wise people, Proverbs declares, are not “touchy” when insulted.  Instead, they “solicit instruction and correction.” The trick is coming to see all unwanted and uncomplimentary input as potentially beneficial! 

Wisdom Principle #18: If we listen for the voice of God in it, all comments, regardless of their motivation or content, are potentially useful for character building.

I started praying before reading my mail, “Lord, help me hear anything You want me to hear.”  This revolutionized my attitude toward my critics and their insults.  Voila!  They said some things I needed to hear that my friends weren’t telling me!  And they said some nonsense which God let me overlook.

Wisdom Principle #19:  If obedience to God’s Law provides building blocks for our character construction, the search for instruction and correction is the mortar.

Thirty years ago a man screamed at me, “You self-righteous, bigoted, Baptist idiot!”  Looking back, I think he was more right than I wanted to admit (except for the “Baptist” part).

Wisdom Principle #20: Curses and insults are just divinely-allowed instruction (in ugly wrappings).

Turn your curses and insults into benefit, and even your critics and enemies will unwittingly benefit you!

“A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred blows to a fool.”
– Proverbs 17:10 (NIV)

My godly father had a slogan on the wall of his den that said, “It’s better to give someone a piece of your heart than a piece of your mind.” True. But, is it possible that giving someone both could be in their ultimate best interest?

Nobody likes to be corrected, rebuked, or reproved. It strikes at the heart of our arrogance and typically stirs a negative, defensive response. In this “feelings generation,” pop psychology often preaches against such corrective behavior because it stimulates “bad feelings.”

A member of the California Highway Patrol triggered some really bad feelings in me a few years ago with his flashing lights, stern words, and a really expensive citation for “meritorious service in the fast lane.” I didn’t appreciate the recognition at the time, but now I do. I’ve been a safer, more observant, more careful driver ever since. That reproof and correction may have saved my life or someone else’s – because I heeded it.

Wisdom Principle #14: Rebuke and reproof are good medicine. Take them faithfully, regardless of how they taste, because they cure moral sickness.

Proverbs makes a really big deal about how we respond to rebuke and correction. Respond well, we are told, and it will result in honor (13:18), an understanding of the way the world works (15:32), status among the wise (15:31), and life itself (6:23). Reject or scoff at rebuke and reproof, and a lot of bad things result. We will “go astray” (10:17), and even die (15:10)! God declares that correction is so essential to successful living that wise people will love you for correcting them (9:8)!

Wisdom Principle #15: Reproof is a test of wisdom and folly; wise people love it and fools hate it.

The ultimate state of wisdom and maturity is the ability to learn without personal correction. Truly wise people are so teachable they learn even watching others get reproof!

Wisdom Principle #16: The one who doesn’t learn from the correction of others must be reproved personally. Rejecting personal reproof just compounds folly, destruction, and death.

It doesn’t matter the motivation of the one giving the correction or rebuke. Even people who give you a piece of their mind (without a piece of their heart) can help you be a better person. When Shimei cursed King David and threw stones at him (II Sam. 16:8), one of David’s guards wanted to kill him. David forbad it and let him speak, reasoning that God might be motivating the curse!

That’s wisdom and maturity.