14:22-25
When we lead lives intent on serving God, and being His hands in the world, we do good to others while maintaining firm boundaries. Yes there are those who will try to take advantage of the good, but those boundaries prevent that from happening. Remember the boundaries Jesus set when He was on earth. He did not call us to be doormats, but to serve Him and serve Him only. Sometimes doing good for others involves saying no. Remember, it is important to ask God and be obedient to His answer.
When we seek to serve God we receive His blessings and we generate good will with others. It is certainly more pleasant to live where there is good will towards us. In the same way, being truthful builds up trust.
The person who seeks to serve himself does not build up good will and people are less inclined to help him when he encounters hard times. The person who seeks to serve self is more likely to lie in the pursuit of that self service. But those who lie are not trusted. It is harder to live in relationship with others when you are not trusted. Lies also cause harm to others, which further destroys trust and good will.
In life God expects us to make the effort to do the things He requests. Our role is not to sit and talk endlessly about this, but to take action. That is not to say we should rush madly into things, but sitting endlessly discussing how to do something is the same as not doing it. Hard work will have its reward. Research has shown that those who work, especially when it is helping others, will experience greater happiness and cope with life’s difficulties more effectively. A good incentive to work and serve others in God’s name.
The more you serve God and seek His instruction, the wiser you will become. If you ignore God’s instruction then your foolishness is what will grow.
So seek to serve God and seek righteousness and you will be blessed with the fruit of wisdom.
 

14:20-21
In the time of proverbs, as now, people looked down on the poor and idolised the rich. In a world where the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is widening in many western countries, this is increasingly evident. Sadly, many Christians fall for this one as well. They sit in their comfortable middle class churches and feel very safe, secure and smug. They pay lip service to support for those who are struggling, but heaven forbid if someone who didn’t fit their comfortable, middle class existence, stepped into their church. I call such Christians the fat complacent. And in Jesus’ time they were the ones Jesus spoke harshly to. The Pharisees and teachers of the law who were smug, harsh and complacent. Who judged others and made them unfit for heaven through their rules and their harshness (Matthew 23, especially v.13).
The writer of Proverbs notes the human sinfulness of shunning the poor and reminds people it is a sin to despise your neighbour. He adds you are blessed if you care for those in need. So the foolish idolise the rich and hate the poor, whereas the wise love their neighbour and care for the needy. They care more about their neighbours than riches. And this is what God expects of us. What He gives us is for His service, not our own. He does not give us wealth so we can amass it and worship it and look down on others because of it. He gives it for us to use to serve God and care for our neighbour. That is wisdom. That is serving God.
 

14:14-19
There are certainties in life. One is that we will all receive the fruit of our actions. Sadly the fruit of the fool shall be foolishness. When it comes to knowledge, the wise person considers what he hears and reflects on it before deciding if it is true. The fool believes anything he is told. In the same manner, the wise person is careful to look out for danger and avoid it. In wisdom, the wise think carefully before responding to others. The fool reacts rashly and later regrets it.
Sometimes in life the foolish get all the good things and take advantage of the wise. Sometimes the foolish do terrible things to the wise. As David noted in the Psalms, those who wrong us will be punished in time. And a day will come when the foolish will pay homage to the wise. That may well be a long way off. The wise know to wait patiently and ask God for help when it becomes hard to bear. God did not tell us we would like waiting for His promises. Merely that He would sustain us if we trust Him and seek Him. It is the wise who learn to trust God.
 

14:1-13
In looking at these verses it is interesting to note that in the original writings a fool was seen as someone who went against God’s will. He was one who rejected the recognised behaviours of decency. He was a rebel. That is not saying that we must blindly follow what some church organisation says is acceptable behaviour, because many in churches have misused these ‘acceptable behaviours’ to cover up abuse. Your guide for decent behaviour should always be God. Especially pay attention to how Jesus lived on earth. He did not follow the established way of ‘decency’. He condemned it as legalism that pushed people away from God. Yet none were as wise as Him.
In these verses we see that the fool, through her behaviour, destroys everything she has built up. She is not gentle and she does not guard her tongue or measure her words. She rebels against God because she despises Him. She does not work wisely and does not care for her equipment so her work is non-productive. She lies readily and often. She cannot find wisdom because she closes her mind to it. For this reason she does not learn. She will deceive you so beware. Her life seems to go nowhere and she ridicules those who are upright. She avoids her friends when they go through hard times and when she needs them, they are not there. She carelessly hurts others and in time it harms her and leads to great sorrow.
The righteous and wise person builds up her life and guards her reputation through her Godly behaviour. She worshipfully fears God and places Him first in her life. She is careful with her words and works diligently. She does not lie. She is open to learning so she gains great understanding. She especially knows God and understands His way. She finds favour with God. She is there to support her friends, who support her back. She follows a Godly way of life and knows eternal joy.
I know which person I would rather be. How about you?