As always, I encourage my readers to check out the entire chapter of the day. This 19th day of August I am using the 19th chapter of Proverbs as my inspiration. There is much wisdom in this chapter, as in the entire book.
One verse stands out to me, however:
To get wisdom is to love oneself;
to keep understanding is to prosper. (Prov 19:8, NRSV)
What does “to get wisdom” mean to you? How about “to keep understanding”? Share your thoughts below. I’d love for this one verse to be the impetus for a lively discussion.
My own take is twofold. First of all, how about reversing the order of the first part of verse 8: “To love oneself is to get wisdom.” Love of oneself is indeed a necessary component of wisdom. We spend so much time beating ourselves up. I know I do, and I suspect I am not alone in this. What’s past is past. The future remains to be written. The only reality is now. If I don’t love myself now, I have nothing, and wisdom certainly eludes me.
As for the second part of verse 8, any time prosperity is mentioned, I perk up my ears. And yet this phrase baffles me. “To keep understanding is to prosper.” I want to prosper. What do I have to do “to keep understanding”? Let me know, God, and I’ll do it.
What does this mean to you? Wax poetic on what is required to prosper. Who knows, but it is entirely possible that what you write below will make it into my book, Demystifying Prosperity™.
