25 Marks of A Wise Person {plus a free printable}

When my kids were young, I kept the book Proverbs for Parenting on the counter near my Bible. It was an index of proverbs by topic and it helped me find verses quickly so I could tell my kids what God thinks of say lying, striking another person, angry words and foolish behavior and how he commends wisdom, righteousness, justice and heeding the laws of their parents. My copy is stained and worn, and moms today are blessed to have computers which make this job of looking up verses on a specific topics in an instant much easier!

We all want our kids to be wise instead of foolish.

I would engrain into them songs like “Walk with the Wise” and “Obedience Is…” from a Patch the Pirate CD we owned, I’d pin up sayings like “There are only two choices on the shelf: pleasing God or pleasing self.” We talked what seemed like all day about what God says and what God wants and who God is. Some days I felt like a broken record repeating, reinforcing, etc…

Well, not much has changed except now that the kids are teens they talk back! It’s a blessing to hear them understanding God’s word.

Kids who are raised in Christian homes know God’s word,

but the problem comes when they understand it and don’t apply it.

This is also a problem in our churches. We hear God’s word, know God’s word, claim to agree with God’s word, but turn around and do exactly what we want. We do exactly what God’s word forbids. And all the while claiming to be “sold out” for Jesus. Let’s not drive our kids crazy “preaching” to them when we are blind to our sinful areas of life.

If we tout the proverbs and wax eloquent about how God’s word has changed our life and then: over speak, over step, over react, over reach, over eat, over emote, over sleep, or any other “over the top” practices which are out of balance and in excess,

which please our flesh

instead of deny it

“professing ourselves to be wise,”

God’s word says we are fools.

We are failing to walk in God’s spirit,  and can’t really complain when our kids follow us down our self made paths. (In fact, most of the “shortcomings”  parents complain about in their kids are also present in one of the two parent’s lives, too, but they are too blind to see it! How many times have we had parents come to us about “Johnny” doing this and that,  and it is so obvious where little Johnny’s learning it–from the parent!! We’ve seen this over the years in youth ministry and know it’s true in our kids as well. When we find a behavior that’s troubling to us in one of our kids, we look to rid it from ourselves, first {usually, it’s Peter, by the way. Ahem. jk}).

Here is a list of wise qualities from Proverbs that I gathered for a devotional I did last week.

Wisdom and discretion (KJV old word is prudence) teach us how to be:

• self governed
• self disciplined
• sound in mind
• skilled and good judgement in managing ourselves, our own affairs
• resourceful with what we have,
• build up our husband/family and their lives instead of tearing it down
• cautious or circumspect in certain situations
• righteous in word, deed and thought
• judge honestly and rightly without partiality

A Wise Woman/Man/Boy/Girl:

A Proverbs Portrait of A Wise Man (FREE PRINTABLE)

Listens and adds to their learning. Proverbs 1:5

Inherits honor. 3:35

Loves the person giving a rebuke 9:8

Accepts Instruction 9:9

Brings joy to his parents 10:1

Works diligently in summer  10:5

Accepts commands 10:14

Store up knowledge 10:14

Holds His tongue 11:29

Wins souls for Christ 11:30

Listens to Advice 12:15

Uses his tongue to bring healing 12:18

Heeds parental instruction 13:1

Walks with wise men in order to grow wise 13:20

Fears the Lord and shuns evil 14:16

Spreads knowledge 15:7

Uses discernment 16:21

Has a heart that guides his tongue/mouth 16:23

Use their lips to promote instruction 16:23

Seek out discerning knowledge 18:15

Is not led astray by wine/beer 20:1

Does not show partiality in judging 24:23

Turns away anger 29:8

Keeps himself under control 29:11

Does not give full vent to his anger 29:11