Proverbs 11:25

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:25, “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” The word liberal means to be generous, but there is a big difference between being a Biblical liberal and a modern day political liberal. It is good when you are liberal with your own possessions: in other words generous. The problem is that modern day liberals are generous with other people’s money. This Bible verse is saying that you are not going to lose when you give to help others: you are going to gain. Remember the principle of retribution. What you give for others is what will come back to you. Jesus said, “With the same measure that ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:26, “He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.” When you have substance in your possession, you have a responsibility in properly using that substance for the betterment of the society around you. People have needs, and if you know how to supply those needs then you are wise and living properly. That does not mean that you must give everything away. There is a fair price for everything.

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:27, “He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.” It is important to ask yourself what you are seeking. Everyone is seeking something. Whatever you are seeking, you will find. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.” You need to “diligently” seek what is good. Look into your heart and see if what is your hopes and plans and intentions. On the other hand, if you are looking for trouble, then you will find it.

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:28, “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.” Everyone trusts in someone or in something. Because we are weak, we need someone or something. It is better to trust in the Lord. Some people trust in riches, but riches never satisfy, and riches will fail you because they cannot give what is most important: spiritual strength. It says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Those who do not trust in riches, but trust in the Lord are called “righteous.” That is because we are given the righteousness of Christ even when we do not deserve it. That is the greatest benefit of trusting in the Lord Jesus. We are declared to be righteous. We have a standing before God of Christ’s righteousness.

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:29, “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.” No matter how crazy the world around you gets, you should at least be able to have peace in your own home. A man’s home is his castle. You would have to be very foolish and very wicked to cause trouble in your own home. Unfortunately, that can happen in a Christian home because not every person gets saved. A lot of division within a home can take place because one person might know the Lord Jesus, and the other does not. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-36, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.[35] For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.[36] And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.”

There are different types of power in the world. There is the power of rank in a hierarchical structure. Money has power if you know how to use it. Knowledge has power. One of the values of wisdom is its power. In a world of great competition, the wise person will have a major advantage over the foolish person. “the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” One of the main purposes of life is to accomplish something meaningful. The righteous will have fruit. Their lives will not be wasted. Life comes from them because life is in them. Life is in them because Jesus is in them. The last half of verse 30 is very important. It says, “he that winneth souls is wise.” This is where the phrase being a “soul winner” comes from. A soul is won when he or she turns to Jesus and gets saved. How do you become a soul winner? Primarily, you walk in fellowship with Jesus, and then He uses you as a testimony for what He is doing in your life. You show love for others and concern for them. You explain to them some of the great verses of the Bible that have to do with salvation such as John 3:16, Romans 10:13, and Revelation 3:20. Also, you may not be the one that reaps the harvest, but when you plant the seed, you are an important part of winning souls. The souls that you win and that you help to win will be a large part of your reward in heaven.

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:31, “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” Serving God through faith in Christ has its rewards in heaven, but there are also rewards in earth. Do not be fooled. You will always benefit from following the commands of Christ. And you will always suffer if you choose the way of the wicked and the sinner. All of Satan’s apples have worms.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:1, “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.” If you really want to serve Jesus, then you will desire to know more about His truth. That is one of the evidences that you are saved: you will want to learn of Him, and the way to learn about Him is through the study of His Word. When you study His Word, you will increase in knowledge of how to live by faith. And something else will happen: you will be reproved. In other words you will be shown things that you are not doing right or you are not doing well. Some people do not like reproof. You have to have some humility, and you have to be honest about yourself and realize that you need to improve to accept reproof. Foolish people hate reproof. Being “brutish” means having no intelligence, and thus being foolish.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:2-3, “A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.[3] A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.” There is good and evil in the world. That is why God created night and day: to symbolize the existence of good and evil. God is good. Every person must make a choice to align with good or with evil. If you go away from God, you are going towards evil. If you go with God through faith in Christ, then the favor of God is with you and shines upon you. You will either have God’s favor or you will have His condemnation. God wants you to escape condemnation. That is why He sent His Son. John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

What happens to a tree that does not have good roots? It will fall over and be destroyed. Verse three tells us “the root of the righteous shall not be moved.” One of the benefits of following Jesus is that you will have a life that is established on a rock, to use another metaphor. Your work will endure forever. Nothing can shake that. No storm will destroy it. Your life will not be in vain.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:4, “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.” Be careful to whom you get married. That is one of the lessons of this verse. There are two very important decisions in life to make: the first is to accept Jesus as Savior or not. The second is deciding whom you marry, if you get married, and most people do get married. If you are a believer in Jesus and desire to follow Jesus day after day, it is very important that the wife you choose is someone who is a believer and who wants to follow Jesus day after day. In other words a wife must be a sister in Christ. One of the worse disasters that can happen to any marriage is unfaithfulness. If you have a wife that is honorable and faithful, then God has blessed you with a great blessing. Some men fell apart because of what their wives did in shame. You will need a lot of faith and hope and love to get through such a situation, but it would be better to avoid it altogether by simply having a virtuous woman for a wife.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:5, “The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.” The thoughts of our mind are important to God. He knows them. In order to serve God and His Son Jesus, we must have our thoughts right. It says in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” We want to continue training our minds to think of the Lord in all things, to trust in Him, and to have the words of the Bible be the foundation for our philosophy and view of life and the things that happen to us. Thoughts go before actions. If you want to improve your life, then improve your thoughts first.

The people who are not righteous with God do not have the right thoughts. They have deceitful thoughts. They scheme and plan to take advantage of others. That is why they cannot be trusted. Be careful. There are a lot of liars out there. Everyone who comes to Jesus has to start telling the truth: they have to tell the truth about themselves to Jesus.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:6, “The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.” The wicked not only have deceitful words: they also have words that tend to violence. If you do not have the love of Christ in your heart, any amount of hatred is possible. Unless you have a strong man in your house, a stronger than you just might come in and take over. And the evil one does not love God’s human beings. It is interesting that it says here, “the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.” That is because we speak the words of God and of Christ, and His words bring life and healing and power. You are joined in the work of God when you are saying the words of God that are applicable for the situation.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:7, “The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.” This verse deals with the consequences of following Jesus or not following Him. It looks at the final result, which is the most important result. Sometimes we see what the wicked are saying and doing, and we are frustrated because we see them going on day after day, week after week, and month after month. How long: Until God decides to bring judgment. He is Judge, and He sees even more than we do of the wickedness. One of the purposes of life is to accomplish something meaningful and lasting. If you follow Jesus, you will because those that follow Him always bear fruit. Your house will stand.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:8, “A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.” Another value to having wisdom from God is that people will honor you and respect you for it. It says about Jesus that as He matured as a human being, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” The same will happen with you if you increase in wisdom: you will row in favor with God and man. You need Jesus. If you do not know Him, today you can call upon His name.

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