How does one effectively do the will of God? Good question! One of the ways we can strive to live our lives more closely in alignment with God’s will for us is to focus on how we live our lives from the perspective of the Book of Proverbs. Daily life can present to us all kinds of problems and challenges. How do we get through them? We will consider the wisdom from 10 powerful proverbs that can help us in daily life.
The Wisdom of God
The solution is Jesus, Divine Wisdom. Focus on the Creator in your daily life. Center your life around Jesus and move forward with the life God has given you. God and His angels will take care of the rest. Align your will with the Divine will as best as you can.
Jesus Himself affirms in the Gospels:
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:50
Faith in Jesus
In faith, I believe Jesus suffered and died for me on the cross so that I might have the possibility of eternal life with Him. I believe in Jesus. I believe the Bible is the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). The wisdom of the Bible can help us combat every battle we are experiencing in our lives on all levels, past, present, and future.
“As we do battle and fight in the contest of faith, God, his angels and Christ himself watch us.” – St. Cyprian
You might ask Jesus to lead you through the ups and downs of daily life. Show Jesus your faith in Him. I learned from St. Alphonsus Liguori to keep praying to Jesus for His will to be done. Draw near to God to allow God to draw near to you (Mal 3:7).
What is Daily Life?
Daily life as in waking up on Monday morning and facing the day and the week ahead of you. Daily life as in making those first steps on any morning. Daily life as in paying bills, picking up groceries, making decisions, and that kind of thing.
“Blessed is the one who truly loves Christ and always keeps him near.” – St. Teresa of Avila
We should keep in mind, we have been entrusted with responsibilities from the Lord above. We have a responsibility in how we live out our lives for God and His Church.
The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. Genesis 2:15
Ten Powerful Proverbs for Daily Life
Wherever you are in life, know that God is with you. Have faith in Him. I pray the wisdom of God’s Proverbs help you faithfully live out a life of discipleship in Christ.
Proverb #1:
Morning Offering
Entrust your works to the LORD, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3
I learned the meaning of this proverb while living with Benedictine monks for a year.
The monks start their day off early with vigils and lauds offered to the Lord. We know from the scriptures Jesus started his day (Mk 1:35) in prayer. There are a myriad of ways ones could do this, whether it be prayer devotionals, praying the rosary, Liturgy of the Hours, meditative prayer, or just praying from the heart.
Find a morning prayer routine that works best for you and be devout to pray every morning. Find a quiet place to pray, and give God the first fruits of your day every morning, giving thanks. Make God a morning offering from your heart. Offer the whole day up to Jesus on the cross. This is the life of discipleship. If you pray devoutly to God each morning (Ps 143:8) graces from heaven will surely be given to you.
“Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit and peace to the heart.” – St. John Chrysostom
Proverb #2:
Diligent Work
Those who till their own land have food in plenty, but those who engage in idle pursuits lack sense. Proverbs 12:11
Living responsibly for the Lord requires hard work and time management (Eph 5:15-17). The principle of having a good work ethic is mentioned multiple times in the Book of Proverbs. If you look at the life of Jesus, most of his life was lived in obscurity doing humble work each day alongside St. Joseph (Mt 13:55). As the proverb says, “tilling your own land,” it is ultimately you who make the final decisions in this matter.
“Pray as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you.” – St. Augustine
It is up to us to ensure daily tasks are carried out diligently each day. Complacency is a stealthy and formidable enemy that can wreak havoc in our lives with bad habits. Make use of the days God has given you as best you can. If you are offering up your day to God, there should be a sense of passion to get things done for His glory (Col 3:23).
Proverb #3:
Tithe
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with first fruits of all your produce; Proverbs 3:9
The produce we bring in, large or small, whether it be profits, income, various resources, they all have this thing in common: they have been given to us from God with His blessing (Jas 1:17). Tithing helps us to protect the Eucharist and the Church.
A biblical tithe (tenth) is 10% of your earnings or increase.
The wisdom of the proverb teaches us to offer the first fruits (2 Chron 31:5) of our produce to God. This was carried out in the very beginning (Gen 4:4). The patriarchs also did this, and they were blessed for it (Gen 14:20). If you read the last chapter of Malachi, the bridge between the Old and New Testament, you can see how making this sacrifice to God may prove to be one of the best decisions you ever make.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house. Put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure! Malachi 3:10
Before you honor the LORD with the first fruits of your produce, pray over your tithe before it is included in the offertory. You may be amazed how God will bless you.
God is truly a God of His Word and He never changes (Mal 3:6).
“God is everywhere, and he is timeless.” – St. Anselm
Proverb #4:
Formation
For lack of guidance a people falls; security lies in many counselors. Proverbs 11:14
Think about the life of Jesus with this proverb in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus gives us a perfect example in the scriptures in His early life. The young Jesus is joyfully found by the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph in the temple sitting among the teachers. Jesus was asking them questions and listening to them (Lk 2:46).
Never stop studying Sacred Scripture (Ps 1:2), and never stop learning from others for guidance (Prov 12:15). Find you a spiritual director to help you grow in Christ.
“Christ himself, the bread from heaven, is man’s nourishment enabling him to grow in virtue, and it is Christ who quenches his thirst and gladdens him with his teaching.” – St. Procopius
Proverb #5:
Prudence with Resources
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Proverbs 22:7
You might call this proverb the Dave Ramsey proverb, because Dave has basically built much of his career around this one proverb it seems, and he has done so with much success. Dave’s 7 Baby Steps Plan have helped many people get out of debt.
This proverb teaches that it is God’s will for us to be out of debt (Rom 13:8).
“In a plan of surpassing beauty the Creator of the universe decreed the renewal of all things in Christ.” – St. Cyril
Proverb #6:
Resource Management
Precious treasure and oil are in the house of the wise, but the fool consumes them. Proverbs 21:20
Our home is a domestic church. Walk into most any Catholic church and what do you see? Some thoughts come to mind: Jesus, peace, reverence for God, beauty, modesty, cleanliness, organization. Our homes should be a microcosm of our parish church (Prov 24:3-4). You might think about “precious treasure” in those terms and “oil” in terms of resources and the good deeds we can do with our resources for those in need.
The more prudent we are with our resources, the more we will able to give to church and charity. We want to be living in a house of the wise with Jesus the Lord as the cornerstone of our homes, the domestic church (1 Pt 2:6).
“If you believe, you have the spirit of wisdom.” – St. Ambrose
Proverb #7:
Saving and Investing
Wealth won quickly dwindles away, but gathered little by little, it grows. Proverbs 13:11
The focus with this proverb is on the gathering, little by little, saving and investing routinely (Mt 25:27). Our personal sacrifice and diligence here will hopefully lead to peace and stability for us and our families in later years or in times of famine as it was with the shrewd and prudent patriarch Joseph in the book of Genesis.
“Ponder the fact that God has made you a gardener, to root out vice and plant virtue.” – St. Catherine of Siena
Proverb #8:
Integrity
Better to be poor and walk in integrity than rich and crooked in one’s ways. Proverbs 19:1
Do not underestimate the corrupt and crooked ways of the world (2 Pt 1:4). Do not underestimate our adversary, the devil, who seeks to ensnare and destroy us (1 Pt 5:8). Stay close to Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph in this life.
We can pray the Blessed Mother’s rosary to help keep us and our families protected. We can pray the Litany of St. Joseph to help lead and guide us and increase in virtue.
The Holy Family (Lk 2:22) understood this proverb well, and they were obedient to God and His precepts. Christ lived with them, and He should live with us in daily life.
“By your diligence show your love for those whom God has given you, just as Christ loved the Church.” – St. John Baptist de la Salle
Proverb #9:
Generosity
The generous will be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9
St. Teresa of Calcutta lived a remarkable life of charity every Catholic should consider.
Giving a tithe to the Church in addition to charity is commendable, but in today’s world it can be difficult to contribute a tithe to church and still give to charities, but with faith and perseverance we can give and perform works of mercy for the Lord.
The Fifth Precept of the Catholic Church says we are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his or her own ability.
Performing spiritual and corporal works of mercy is an essential characteristic of Christian discipleship. An example would be donating non-perishable food items each month to a local food pantry to help assist poor families in the community.
“When the poor are starving, Christ too hungers.” – St. Caesarius
Proverb #10:
Fear of the LORD
The result of humility and fear of the LORD is riches, honor and life. Proverbs 22:4
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. God is beyond our understanding. Without Fear of the LORD, the same God who made heaven and earth, we can be deceived by evil spirits who want us to abandon our faith in God (Eph 6:12).
Our humility is often in proportion to our spiritual life in God (Sir 2:17).
We can pray a holy prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for us in heaven.
“Oh heart most pure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for me from Jesus a pure and humble heart. Amen.”
The Christian goal is to enter into eternal life and be with Jesus (Phil 3:17-21). If we live our lives for God instead of for ourselves (2 Cor 5:14-15), we can hope and pray we will be found worthy of eternal life with Jesus forever in heaven. Amen.
“By giving us his Son, whom he did not spare precisely so that he might spare us, he bestowed on us at once every good: grace, love and heaven.” – St. Alphonsus Liguori
Recap
Books in the Bible like Proverbs, Sirach, and the Psalms are filled with the wisdom of God. The Word of God is powerful. Anyone who consistently studies the Bible will be allowing God’s grace to form them without even being aware that it is happening. Let us allow Jesus, the Word of God, to be the LORD of our lives. May God’s will be done +
“Christ is the fountain of life and spiritual illumination; for from him come all these things: wisdom, life, and eternal light.” – St. Columban (543 – 615 A.D.)
