⁹Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: ¹⁰so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10

 ⁹Honour God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. Proverbs 3:9-10 (Message)

The word honour here means to esteem, to make weighty, or to have great regard for. What the Bible is saying here is esteem God with your substance, esteem Him highly. Let God be the focus of honour in your life; with your wealth, your children, your career, your talent, your energy, your time, and your spouse. Give God all your honour and ‘your barns will burst’. Be faithful even with your little, esteeming God in all you have. This is wisdom, and as you do this it will be well with you.

Make it your life’s principle to pay your tithe faithfully, and give generously; knowing that you are only a custodian of all that you possess – all we have has been freely given to us by God. Listen to Him as He guides you in the way to spend what you have. This is the way to keep your barn full and continuously bursting!

As you go through today keep it at the back of your mind to honour God with all you have. Father, may your grace and mercy go with your people today. May it be well with everyone reading this devotional now, in the name of Jesus. Amen. God bless you.

‘The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.’

Proverbs 12:15

One of the characteristics of a fool is not to listen to good advice from those with more experience, they believe they are always right. Fools also do not take heed to the word of the Lord. We should avoid acting like a fool. Look inwards today and think about the different areas where you believe you know everything. Is this attitude foolish? Have others counselled you and you disregard their counsel, thinking you know it all? I must say, this is a sign of foolishness.

Actually, this is a thing of the heart that shows up in attitude. You really don’t have to accept or follow every other person’s opinion about anything. But a disposition of ‘I know it all,’ a disposition that does not give consideration to ideas expressed even by those obviously more matured and more experienced than yourself is foolish. This is kind of attitude must be avoided. Begin right now to take stock and repent s needed.

Listen to the counsel of the wise and righteous, or you risk acting in foolishness. I pray that the Lord grant you the wisdom you need to face the day and prosper in it in the name of Jesus, Amen.

‘If you are weak in a crisis, you are weak indeed.’ Proverbs 24:10 (GNV)

‘If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.’ Proverbs 24:10 (MSG)

The mark of the strength or commitment of a relationship is not how well they are doing when times are good, but rather how well they are doing when times are bad. It is in the time of crisis that the measure of your real strength will show. If you lose control of your emotions and begin to talk negatively like someone without hope, and even begin to ‘curse God’ during your trying times, it shows you never had faith to begin with.

‘If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.’ (KJV). Those who cave in, give up, and quit when faced with adversity were never strong to begin with. But if in such challenging times you do not quit but pray to God for strength while exercising patience, God will surely give you the wisdom to overcome your adversity.

This is one reason why you must endeavour to know your God – walk with Him on a daily basis; spend time to meditate on the Word and build up your faith. Then you will be able to firmly resist the devil and do great things for the Lord, even in times of crisis (Daniel 11:32). I pray that your strength will not fail you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

¹⁵A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip on a rainy day. ¹⁶How can you keep her quiet? Have you ever tried to stop the wind or ever tried to hold a handful of oil? Proverbs 27:15-16 (GNT)

^15-16 A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet; you can’t turn it off, and you can’t get away from it. Proverbs 27:15-16 (MSG)

Nagging spouses are difficult to deal with. They are a nuisance, finding fault in everything and everyone; and yet, they are an integral part of the home you can’t do without! They are usually complaining or showing sudden impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance. If you are this nagging person, calm down, pray about it, and ask God to help you. You will need to learn to bring up the issue of your annoyance for discussion in a positive way.  You do this in order to create a positive atmosphere in the environment you are in – at home or even in the larger community. The thing I’ve notice here is that, only you can help yourself! You might even be wondering “how come ‘they’ don’t notice the problem? It’s plain to see!”

As you read this, do not point to anyone else you think it refers to; just consider how it affects you and learn from this wisdom. When nobody is seeing your point, calm down, pray about the issue and develop an attitude that will help both you and others to live in harmony, while you maintain the truth you know. I hope this helps you. If you want peace in your home calm down and stop nagging. May God give you wisdom in Jesus’ name. Amen.

‘An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.’ Proverbs 29:22

The fact of the matter is that anger causes people to transgress. ‘People with quick tempers cause a lot of quarrelling and trouble’ (GNT). If you find that anger is one of your weaknesses you must address it, pray for God’s help, and take specific actions to combat your anger; spend time in the Word and tell yourself you can change.

The CEB version says ‘angry people stir up conflict’. Conflicts are bound to happen both in the family and in the marketplace. This is because we are all wired differently, and that means we will respond to comments or situations differently. Someone’s behaviours might actually make you feel angry! The question is, what do you do? The answer is, ensure you do not respond to the situation in anger. That will stir up the conflict that already exist! Rather, calm down, think through and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to respond in ways that will lead to resolving the existing conflict (and I am sure that is what you really want).

‘Angry people stir up a lot of discord; the intemperate stir up trouble.’ (MSG). Professional persons lose everything when they are supposed to be going for the gold because of anger. Leave anger out of your dealings in life, else, accept the consequences; ‘…a furious man aboundeth in transgression.’ May God give you wisdom to exercise control over your temper. It will be well with you today in Jesus’ name. Amen.

‘He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.’

Proverbs 25:28

 ‘If you cannot control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, open to attack.’

Proverbs 25:28 (GNT)

People with no self-control puts themselves in jeopardy. Anger should be dealt with calmly and rationally. Step back, think through the way you are going to deal with the issue that you are angry about. Make no decisions in anger. Decisions made in anger can hurt you and the ones you love, and also destroy years of hard work.

‘A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out’ (MSG). When you lose your temper, you are vulnerably exposed, and you stand the risk of losing everything you have worked hard to gather. Long standing relationships can be destroyed within seconds because inappropriate utterances are made in anger! The key thing to note here is not that you are angry; even God has reasons why He could feel angry – even with His children – sometimes. The point to note is that you should be able to control your temper when you are in an angry mood – no matter how legitimate your feeling is at the moment! Self-control is a fruit of your regenerated spirit, meaning that you have the capacity to control yourself at any time, if only you would yield to the caution and prompting of your spirit man. God will give you the necessary grace and wisdom to restrain yourself at all times.

 ‘The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression’ Proverbs 19:11

Instead of managing emotions when angry, it might just be best to simply ignore the transgression. This might not feel good to your flesh, but you would be surprised how much progress would be made if you are able to do this. Look at the scripture in the Amplified version ‘Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense’. Pass it over, just ignore it – it is good sense to forgive and forget!

There are four things we can notice from this scripture:

• 1) You have the ability to let it go, no matter how it hurts;
• 2) If you are sensible, you can, and will control your temper;
• 3) It is a great virtue to forgive and forget; and
• 4) Be smart and control your tongue.

If each person takes note of these four points, it will be easy to manage and control anger and maintain peace at home, at work, and in the society. I pray for families that have disputes today, that husband and wife will be wise and control their tongue; I pray for business relationships that are about to split because of conflicts that they will be wise to control their temper; I also pray for broken hearted and hurting people in our communities that they will be healed and encouraged so that relationships can be rebuilt and future can be preserved; in Jesus name. God bless your day, amen.

‘It is better to be patient than powerful. It is better to win control over yourself than over the whole city’ Proverbs 16:32 GNB

‘Patience is better than strength. Controlling your temper is better than capturing a city’ Proverbs 16:32 NCV

Patience will help you control your temper better. You might not want to be angry in many instances, but if you are not patient enough, you may end up acting in anger. If a powerful leader is patient, he will lead better. It is no good to us if you can win a whole city and can’t control your emotions. A husband, a wife, a boss, etc., will do better if they can be patient. American Standard Version says ‘He that is slow to anger is better that the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city’.

When you exercise patience in your day to day dealings, you are able to turn issues over in your mind and you will see things clearer and will succeed in hearing the promptings of the Holy Spirit; this will guide you to do what is right in all situations. If husband and wife can be patient with each other, there will be greatness, peace and less cases of divorce.

You might be in the right about a matter, and have the power and tactic to fight back in time of conflict, but if you exercise some patience, you might see a better way to respond in every conflict. As you face the day, remember this word of wisdom, and the Lord will give you understanding, in Jesus name, amen. 

 ‘A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger’ Proverbs 15:1

Every day we are faced with the challenge of being tempted to be angry in our dealings with people. It is also important to note that what we say to people, or how we respond to others, can make others to be angry. The Message version says ‘A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire’.

When communication begins between two people, each person’s response and counter response will determine the direction and likely end of the conversation. On a general note, hot tempered response leads to sustained argument that can end up in a bad place. The believer can be trained to control how conversations go in the marketplace, or in the family. This is because we have the spirit of God in us and He can help us overcome the natural tendencies of the flesh. Eph. 4:26 (New Century Version) says ‘When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day’ – we are not immune from anger, but we have the ability to stop being angry if we will respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

As you face the day, determine not to be annoyed by what you hear and if you feel angry, be slow to respond and give a soft response. Be careful how you talk to people so that they do not get angry. Consider the following scriptures (New Century Version): Pr. 15:18 ‘people with quick tempers cause trouble, but those who control their tempers stop quarrel’; Pr. 15:28 ‘good people think before they answer, but the wicked simply pour out evil’. Determine to be an agent of peace at home, at work and in the society. God will give you wisdom. You are blessed.  

‘If you stay calm you are wise, but if you have a hot temper, you only show how stupid you are’ Proverbs 14:29 GNB

Today we will start the discussion about managing and preventing the spread of anger in the community. Our scripture for today’s devotional is an interesting one – look at it again in the Message version ‘slowness to anger make for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity’.

To be slow to get angry is referred to here as a sign of wisdom and understanding, while being quick tempered shows stupidity! Maintaining your calmness when you have been offended is certainly a difficult thing – but we need to make up our minds to give adequate consideration to today’s scripture, it says we can control our emotions.

Let’s choose to do that – be slow to be angry. Give a lot of thought to your situation before you talk or take any action. Some people refer to the fact that they would rather express their anger and not be like a hypocrite, but I have found out that it is more difficult not to sin when we quickly respond in anger.

The key point here is; ‘be slow to getting angry’. You will agree with me that we can prevent a lot of problem in the family, among friends, at work, or somewhere in the community, if only we will ‘be slow to be angry’! As you face your day, remember this word of wisdom.  God bless you.