The 8F’s
1My son, do not forget my teaching,
Proverbs 3:1-12
but let your heart keep my commandments;
2for they will add length to your days,
years and peace to your life.
3Never let loving devotiona or faithfulness leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4Then you will find favor and high regard
in the sight of God and man.
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
6in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
7Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8This will bring healing to your body
and refreshmentc to your bones.
9Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
10then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.
11My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD,
and do not loathe His rebuke;
12for the LORD disciplines the one He loves,
as does a father the son in whom he delights.
This passage is so rich and full of pure wisdom in these 12 verses. And don’t stop there…as v13 digs into wisdom and so forth.
1. Faith
God, Spiritual, and Religion
AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD
Mark 12:30
WITH ALL YOUR HEART,
AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL (life),
AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND (thought, understanding),
AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
Commandment #1. It’s not commandment #1 because God needs the control, it’s #1 because He is all that and then some and we need and are best of with all of Him. If by faith, we give Jesus Christ our heart, He will have our back.
God, in His triune yet unified being, created us in His image. We are different than the rest of His vast creation. We have a triune nature. We also have a free will. Let’s put our faith over fear (the false earthly kind). Let us fear God (holy and respectful) with love and honor.
We are spiritual beings living in physical bodies. We are IN the world but should not be OF it. Let’s excel in both simultaneously. This is what true religion is about. It’s the process of converting the spiritual invisibility into practical reality, both personally and corporately.
But seek first the kingdom of God
Matthew 6:33
and His righteousness,
and all these things
will be added unto you.
2. Family
Spouse, Parents, Siblings, Children and other Relatives
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
endures all things.
Other than our Spouse (at least in my culture), we did not chose our family, God gave us our family by His sovereign will. It’s a truism that we can pick our friends but not our family. But we can pick our attitude and choose our reactions. Let us pick love, namely the storge and agape qualities of love.
God also gave us Christians brothers and sisters in Christ. Spiritual family you might say, a combination of friends and brothers of other mothers.
Blood is thicker than water.
3. Friends
People, Inter-dependent / Intimate Relationships, Co-workers, Acquaintances & Public
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mark 12:30
No other commandment is greater than these.”
Friends come in all different kinds of degrees: best, close, buds, neighborly, facebook, passersby’s, etc…
Are you generally a friendly, caring and kind person?
Do nothing
Philippians 2:3-4
out of selfish ambition or empty pride,
but in humility consider others
more important than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only
to your own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
If you want a friend,
be one.
A friend in need,
is a friend in deed.
4. Fitness
Healthcare, Diet, Sleep, Rest & Exercise
For physical training is of some value,
1st Timothy 4:8
but godliness (spiritual training) is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.
It’s a well know factor that exercise helps the body stay healthy. Regular elevation of our heart beat, sweating, sunshine, deep breathing, mental refreshment, and so forth are healthy. Fitness is an imperative component to life. So let’s control what we can and trust in God with what’s outside of it.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
1 Corinthians 10:32
do it all to the glory of God.
We know that a comprehensive and clean diet leads to good health with moderation and avoiding gluttony. Yet, their is more to food than consumption. It’s an opportunity to be grateful for God’s provision.
21My son, do not lose sight of this:
Proverbs 3:21-26
Preserve sound judgment and discernment.
22They will be life to your soul
and adornment to your neck.
23Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.
24When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
25Do not fear sudden danger
or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from the snare.
Drawing furthermore from Proverbs 3, we can gather the paradox of ‘sound judgement and discernment’ from verse 21 to the confidence in the Lord in verse 21. What an amazing dichotomy of personal discipline coupled with the Lord’s provisional protection. This leads to peak mental and physical fitness when we can truly rest, sleep and restore. Clean living and eating leads to optimum health.
5. Function
Purpose, Career & Work
Whatever you do [whatever your task may be],
Colossians 3:23
work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort],
as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,
We see God at work during creation. God gave Adam work to do before the fall. God expects is to work diligently and unto Him. To leave this world a better place, to be a good steward.
As good stewards of the manifold grace of God,
1st Peter 4:10
each of you should use whatever gift he has received
to serve one another.
This is crux of servant leadership. We go up when we give up for others. We are more likely to get what we want and need when we help others get what they want and needs. Yes, givers gain, sooner or later what goes around does come around.
Idle hands make one poor,
Proverbs 10:4
but diligent hands bring wealth.
Wealth for good is not bad. Money is not bad but becomes bad if we love it more than God. We are to love people and use money not the other way around by using people and loving money.
10You, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance, 11my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.
2nd Timothy 3:10-17
What persecutions I endured!
Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
12Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. 15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
And we know that God works together all things for good
Romans 8:28
to those loving God, to those being called according
to His purpose,
We were created for a purpose. When love God and work for His purpose, it all works for good in some strange and mysterious yet true way.
6. Finance
Money, Income, Giving, Saving & Spending
9Honor the LORD with your wealth
Proverbs 3:9-10
and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
10then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.
More awesome wisdom from Proverbs 3. It’s a godly principle that givers gain and when we give to God, He will bless us.
7. Fun
Play, Sport, Hobbies, Entertainment and Relaxation.
All work without play makes for a dull day.
Even God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th. This is good pattern for us, as He so stated.
So I commended the enjoyment of life,
Ecclesiastes 8:15
because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry.
For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
Solomon suggests that we seek to enjoy life the best we can. That we should make the most of whatever we got and be merry.
Scripture tell us that the “Joy of the LORD is our strength” in Nehemiah.
It is part ‘mind of matter’ and also ‘mind in matter’ but what matters most is what matters to God. When He matters most, when His utmost is our highest, then we are at our zenith.
8. Further Learning
Study, Education and Wisdom
“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
Proverbs 18:15 BSB
and the ear of the wise seeks it out.”
“A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge
Proverbs 24:5 BSB
enhances his strength.”
Furthering one’s knowledge, skills and abilities is essential to having a fulfilling life. Learning shouldn’t stop after the formative formal education has been completed.
In today’s rich information age, gaining access to quality teaching on varieties is abundant. The key is be well rounded in generalities (science, law, politics, religion, history, literature, current events) yet becoming a expert in a few things which you are deeply passionate about. Dedicate the time and delve into mastery of subjects in which connect your head to your heart and result in action with your hands.
It has been reported that it takes 10,000 hours / approximately 7 years to master a particular skill / subject. Leaders are readers and we earn when we learn.
With AI tools so readily available, use them as mathematician does a calculator, as a mechanic does with scanning an engine trouble code or an effective executive does with an assistant.
Always remember, it is a tool and not a replacement for critical thinking and decision making.
Furthermore, continuous learning is more than head knowledge, it also includes EQ, as our emotional quotient is also important, if not more so than IQ and KQ. We are wise to study and learn about people and relationships. We need to know thyself first and know others too. We need to learn to forgive, what to forget, what to discern, and how to guide our hearts.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6
Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
God here is referring to a willful lack of piety, a puffed up prideful independence and arrogance from God’s ways and principles. I believe this carries into the New Testament as well. I is one thing to know knowledge, a head knowledge. It is another thing to resonate with it. Lastly, it is to apply it. All three are important.
Knowledge is great but it’s only powerful when applied properly. This experience is called wisdom. Wisdom takes time so better to get started and disciplined sooner than later.
“Even zeal is no good without knowledge,
Proverbs 19:2 BSB
and he who hurries his footsteps misses the mark.”
Conclusion
7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
Ecclesiastes 9:7-13
8Let your garments always be white,
and never spare the oil for your head.
9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
11I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
12For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
Wisdom Is Better than Strength
13I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me: 14There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it. 15Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
17The calm words of the wise are heeded
over the shouts of a ruler among fools.
18Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
Rate yourself regularly.
Rate yourself regularly. Request that others who know you well do the same, if you dare.
Give yourself a score 1 (worst) – 5 (best) in each area.
Mark an arrow if you are up ⬆️, down ⬇️ or the same ➡️.
Pondering Life : Pursuing God 