A Life of No Regrets and No Boasting

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, (Proverbs 1:7-8, ESV)

Okay, let’s pray.

Father, we really want to receive wisdom from you. You promise in your word that if we ask, you will give in generous portions. We admit that we are clueless. Many times we are blind. Many times we don’t know what to do. Many times. So we look to you, Lord.

We pray that you would reveal yourself and pour out wisdom in this time. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Well, the title for today is “A Life of No Regrets and No Boasting.” Did you know it’s possible to live a life of no regrets and no boasting? Wisdom is something that is revealed, that has to be lived out, and also is something we encounter. Wisdom is something that is revealed for us, something we have to live out, and something we have to encounter. Matthew 11:25.

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this, for such was your gracious will. (Matthew 11:25-26, ESV)

And when it says things are hidden from the wise and understanding, it is talking about people who are educated, people who are smart, people with a high IQ. For whatever reason, God chose to keep things hidden from such people and to reveal it to little children.

All of us are children of God, and it is a gift that was given to us. So, wisdom is something that is revealed contrary to everything we hear in the world. Everything in this world suggests that wisdom is something that we can receive through education, something we can figure out, something we can acquire. It’s within our grasp as long as you put in the necessary effort. It’s true, when it comes to your career, your major, your studies, there are things that we can learn in this world.

But to God, the wisdom that is really important and impactful for your life is nowhere to be found on this earth. And so that’s the beginning point. Like, if you recognize there is no wisdom here, there’s only wisdom that comes from above. I should look above. I should ask my heavenly father to reveal wisdom to me. Then already you are light years ahead of most people in this world who do not believe this. Wisdom is something that is revealed. And Jesus is thankful that to the little children, true wisdom has been revealed.

And to all the scholars, the philosophers, the CEOs of our day, this wisdom, this precious wisdom is hidden from their eyes. Wisdom is something that has to be lived out. And if you read the Proverbs, I began reading Proverbs this week, and I just jotted some down, and it’s just pages of verses like Proverbs 1-9 is kind of the intro about the Proverbs, and then 10 to about 29 is like individual nuggets of wisdom, like every verse you can chew on for some time, and it’s structured in that way.

But is it the point that we just memorize proverbs and try our best to live it out? Because it has to be lived out. But is that the main point? Because Solomon, who is the one who had revelation, he is the fountain from which all of these proverbs are available to us. And the wisest person who ever lived himself, he could not live out what he was saying. So there’s something that we do have to live it out as best we can. But is that the point?

Because if that’s the point, then Solomon missed the point. Then Solomon is actually quite a fool when it comes to practical matters, because he can say the right thing, but he cannot, for the most part, live it out. So wisdom is something that is revealed, something that has to be lived out. But living it out is not quite the point. Let me give you some examples. There’s some topics here. Let me just go through some of the topics. I just went through several of the Psalms. I mean, the Proverbs.

And so there’s proverbs about marriage, fear of the Lord, remembering the teaching of the Lord, trusting the Lord, receiving discipline, correction from the Lord, humility and pride in the dangers of it, the father and the son, and family dynamics, God’s promise to feed righteous children, diligence, strife versus peace, speech, anger, gossip, and friendship. So I can maybe just highlight a few of these and see if you can actually live it out. I think the, the mistake that maybe some people in the church make is the Bible is a series of Aesop’s fables.

Like Aesop’s fables, you read the fable, you glean the lesson, which comes at the end of the fable, and you try to gain wisdom from that fable and remember the fable and try to live a better life as a result of what you read. Many people treat the Bible like that. It’s a series of Aesop’s fables. It’s proverbs that are supposed to be memorized and to the best of your ability recalled and lived out. When it comes to fear of the Lord, I’ll give you a few verses. Proverbs 1:7.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7, ESV)

⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, ⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. (Proverbs 1:8-9, ESV)

A lot of the verses here talk about children in relation to parents. And I think there’s a lesson here. There’s no perfect set of parents. There’s no perfect set of children. But there’s something here that we are all children of God.

We’re relating to an invisible father, and there’s something to be learned in your home as you’re growing up. So it may seem like I’m going to target the little ones in this congregation first, the children who are under your parents’ roof. But it applies to all of us because we’re all children under our heavenly Father.

Proverbs 9:10.

¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs 9:10, ESV)

¹¹ For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. (Proverbs 9:11, ESV)

Proverbs 15:16.

¹⁶ Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. (Proverbs 15:16, ESV)

³³ The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 15:33, ESV)

So that is kind of setting the stage, like we need to consult and revere and fear the Lord. And then there’s a series of proverbs for remembering the teaching of the Lord and trusting the Lord.

It says in Proverbs 3:1.

¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, ² for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. (Proverbs 3:1-2, ESV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV)

⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord , and turn away from evil. ⁸ It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8, ESV)

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10, ESV)

So fear of the Lord, trusting the Lord. We understand that these are important things that we glean from these proverbs. But let’s now go into something a lot more practical, like receiving discipline from the Lord. Discipline as a child from your parents. Proverbs 3:11.

¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord ‘s discipline or be weary of his reproof, ¹² for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:11-12, ESV)

It is not enjoyable at all to discipline the children. It is much easier to look the other way and say, well, it’s your life, just live your life. If you make a mistake, it’s on you. I’m gonna look past all that I see, and you figure it out. And the heavenly Father also could say, well, I’m dealing with all these rebels. I don’t want to waste my breath. I’ve given them 100 chances.

They’ve blown all 100. I don’t want to deal with them. And yet, the father, he is so loving that he does not ignore the children when they are wayward, when they are proud, when they’re stubborn, when they’re deaf and blind. And he does whatever he can to get the attention of these rebels, all of us. And he does it through discipline. Proverbs 9:7.

⁷ Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.(Proverbs 9:7, ESV)

⁸ Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. ⁹ Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. (Proverbs 9:8-9, ESV)

And we know there are people in our lives that we can say certain things when appropriate, and it will help them immensely. We also know that we can say certain things and we will get a fist in the face. We will get abuse and insult. We will get a door slammed in our face. That happens in life. What about when it comes to your children?

When it comes to your children, if you’re a loving parent, we just have to keep going. We just have to keep going. Even if we know this conversation is not going to go well, we have to keep going because that’s the father’s heart. Just because we scoff at the heavenly Father when he tries to correct us, that doesn’t mean that we should act the same way to our children. Like our heavenly Father, he is consistent, persistent, and compassionate. He disciplines those he loves. He goes after us. He does whatever it takes to get our attention.

That is a parent’s heart for the children. That’s a heavenly father’s heart for all of God’s children. It is much easier as a parent to say, “I see no evil, I hear no evil,” just to be an absentee parent. Just. I don’t want to deal with it. It’s too much of a headache. I don’t want to get abused. I don’t want to go back and forth. It is too tiring. And yet, the loving thing as a parent is to display the consistent love of God.

And when discipline is appropriate, to engage in that very difficult conversation. Proverbs 10:8.

⁸ The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. (Proverbs 10:8, ESV)

¹⁷ Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray. (Proverbs 10:17, ESV)

¹ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. (Proverbs 12:1, ESV)

Yeah, God is very direct. And can’t we all, can’t it be safe, all of us, that at various times we were stupid and God was trying to speak to us.

Whether it’s through a flawed parent, whether it’s through a teacher, whether it’s through a terrible boss, through circumstances, God was trying to communicate something to you and you just blew it off. And this is just a caution to all children. All of your parents tried their best. All of the parents tried their best. You have to see when you are a parent how difficult it is to be on the other side. And it is. And maybe I’ll read some more proverbs. It is not fitting for a child to rail against the parents.

It’s just not right. I did it in my youth. It was not right. To the best of my ability, I restrained my tongue and in moments it came out. Restraining the tongue was right. I’m not saying my parents were perfect, but it was right that I restrained my tongue. And I listened to what was said. Some of it was true, a lot of it wasn’t. But it was my job as a son to receive it. And some of it was from the Lord, and I needed to hear it.

So I can go Proverbs after Proverbs about just this one topic, but I think you get the point. God uses all kinds of means to correct us. He can correct us directly through His word, which is very effective. Hopefully, He can use circumstances; He can use flawed parents; He can use a flawed boss. He can use anything to His disposal. If you’re wayward, if you’re proud, if you’re off track, our heavenly Father is so loving that He will do whatever it takes to get you back on track.

And as we read Proverbs, we’ll begin to get a sense of what does it mean to be on track. Now about humility versus pride. Proverbs 3:33.

³³ The Lord ‘s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. (Proverbs 3:33, ESV)

³⁴ Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. ³⁵ The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. (Proverbs 3:34-35, ESV)

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18, ESV)

¹² Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 18:12, ESV)

An easier way is to heed the warnings from the Lord, coming from all kinds of places, even imperfect places, like a child hearing from a flawed parent. And there’s wisdom when you hear it in that place. But if you don’t get it there, then there’s a more difficult lesson that you must learn, and many of us, and I was one of them, so, okay, I didn’t hear it as a teenager.

I thought I knew better than my parents. And so I went to college, and I reaped the consequences of somebody who said, I’m gonna do it my way. I made a mess of my life. I made a mess of my life my first year. It was just a blur. It was a mess. It was me acting out all the rebellion that was just suppressed. It just came out.

And so, some people, it’s like, unfortunately, the prouder you are, the less you will take discipline, instruction, advice, and the more you will have to learn the hard way. I’m the first one in that camp. I had to learn the hard way. And some of us, it just has to be that way. Until we fall, we never will humble ourselves; until we make a mess, we will never admit, “Oh, I should have listened to this advice earlier. I should consult the Lord. I should have fear of the Lord. I should revere the Lord.”

I should trust the Lord instead of trying to do it my way. And there’s verses about father-son family dynamics. Proverbs 10:1.

¹ The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. (Proverbs 10:1, ESV)

¹⁷ Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. (Proverbs 15:17, ESV)

Proverbs 15:20.

²⁰ A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. (Proverbs 15:20, ESV)

⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. (Proverbs 17:6, ESV)

Proverbs 17:25.

²⁵ A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him. (Proverbs 17:25, ESV)

Like it or not, as a father, I am measured in some ways by my children and eventually my grandchildren. There is hopefully future glory as my children become men of God and then become men of their own household and become shining examples of Jesus and have grandchildren, and they also pour into their children. And then I reap the benefits of being a granddaddy.

And to me, it’s like I will be somewhat measured as a man by my kids and my grandkids, how they turn out. Of course, it’s not all on me, because even in the best home, like you read scripture, some of the most godly homes, you look at the children, it’s like, how did they end up like this? So it’s not like we don’t take all the burden, we don’t take all the credit. But to some level, there is a measurement of the success of an individual by how you have impacted the next generation.

And then there’s proverbs about God’s promise to feed his righteous children, and then diligence. Proverbs 10:4.

⁴ A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. (Proverbs 10:4, ESV)

⁵ He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. (Proverbs 10:5, ESV)

²⁴ The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor. (Proverbs 12:24, ESV)

⁴ The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. (Proverbs 13:4, ESV)

Proverbs 15:19.

¹⁹ The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. (Proverbs 15:19, ESV)

If there’s one thing as a man and as a father that bothers me to no end, it’s when I see laziness. My boys already know this. If they are waking up late, if they are just procrastinating, if they’re just, you know, behind in school, because that’s their job at school. If they.

If they’re just irresponsible and cannot focus, and they don’t do their chores, it drives me crazy because it’s not because I want them to get straight A’s. That’s really not the reason. It’s not because I want them to go to Harvard. That’s really not the reason. It’s because I see there’s a character issue here. Like, if this issue doesn’t get solved, they will reap many years of bad consequences. And I’m trying to spare them as a father who sees the future.

If they don’t overcome this laziness, this lack of discipline and diligence, it will catch up to them sooner or later. And to me, as a father, this is one thing I really pay attention to. They must get a hold of their life. They must. Because if you are lazy in your school, you’re gonna be lazy at your work, you’re gonna be lazy in your spiritual life. you’ll be lazy in all aspects of your life. Because we’re all one person.

We cannot compartmentalize and say, well, I’m lazy in this, but I’m gonna be really diligent later in that. No, it doesn’t work that way. If you’re diligent, you’re going to be diligent with how you do your studies as a young person. you’re going to be diligent as you get older, how you take care of your body. you’re going to be diligent in the kind of person you are at work. you’re going to be diligent in your spiritual life. People will look at you and they’ll say, there’s nothing in your life that is out of whack.

There’s nothing that’s undisciplined. Like, you can say, well, they’re very disciplined in spiritual life, but they eat all this junk food. No, it doesn’t work that way. If you have an area of your life of vulnerability, it will translate and show up in other areas of your life. And so for me, I’m looking at this next generation, specifically my boys. I want them to be diligent and excellent in everything, because that translates to spiritual life 100%. God looks at us.

He wants us to be excellent, diligent in everything, so that when it really matters, he can count on us. We’re going to do the job that he asks of us. We’re not going to give up. We’re not going to take shortcuts. We’re going to do it the right way, all the way, until we’re finished. We’re going to finish our race. This is all part of how the heavenly Father views all of us. Strife versus peace, another set of proverbs. Proverbs 10:12.

¹² Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12, ESV)

⁷ When a man’s ways please the Lord , he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (Proverbs 16:7, ESV)

Proverbs 17:1.

¹ Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. (Proverbs 17:1, ESV)

And probably the most practical one that I think the Lord is asking me to kind of sit on is this next category of proverbs, which are speech, anger, and gossip. Proverbs 10:13.

¹³ On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. (Proverbs 10:13, ESV)

Proverbs 10:19.

¹⁹ When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. (Proverbs 10:19, ESV)

²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth. ²¹ The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense. (Proverbs 10:20-21, ESV)

¹³ An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble. (Proverbs 12:13, ESV)

¹⁸ There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18, ESV)

³ Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. (Proverbs 13:3, ESV)

¹ A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1, ESV)

Proverbs 15:2, “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.”

² The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. (Proverbs 15:2, ESV)

¹⁸ A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. (Proverbs 15:18, ESV)

²⁸ The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. (Proverbs 15:28, ESV)

²⁸ A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. (Proverbs 16:28, ESV)

⁹ Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9, ESV)

⁶ A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. (Proverbs 18:6, ESV)

⁷ A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. ⁸ The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. (Proverbs 18:7-8, ESV)

¹⁹ A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle. (Proverbs 18:19, ESV)

²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. (Proverbs 18:21, ESV)

There are so many more that I skipped over, but I think you get the point. How we control our lips, which come from the overflow of the heart, as Jesus says, is one of the most important things you need to figure out in life.

If you don’t fix the mouth, you don’t fix the heart. You will bring a lot of hardship upon your life, and I said in the beginning, a life of no regrets and a life of no boasting. If wisdom is something that’s simply revealed, and I just read the scripture, it’s been, been revealed to us now as we heard it. Now it’s something that has to be lived out. And as you listen to it, can you do it? Are you doing it? Or are we failing miserably on many of these proverbs?

Because if it’s all on us, then when you mess up, then it is my fault. My life is all on my shoulders, and I messed up. It’s my fault. Or if you made it in life, I did it. I boast. But there’s a life that is here for us in scripture that cancels out all boasting and all regret. And it’s this final part, wisdom revealed. Wisdom lived out. Wisdom that has to be encountered. That is the secret of true wisdom in a life of no regrets and no boasting. It says in Romans 8:28.

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29, ESV)

So, if you’ve made mistakes, if you made bad decisions, then you can have a lot of regrets. And I was meeting with a brother this week. We had many conversations. And every time I met him, he said, “I have this regret.”

And then I meet him the next day, oh, I have this regret. This regret. It was a week long monologue of regrets. And I’ve been trying to help this brother and say, you have to encounter wisdom. And if you went through all of these mistakes, and if it’s all on you, yeah, you messed up. Yeah, it’s true.

But if it got you to this point of your life, and you’re flat on your face and you’re kneeling and saying, “I messed up,” and you cry out for wisdom and wisdom himself, Jesus Christ meets you, then God’s promise is true. All things have worked together for good, meaning you could have lived most of your life as a prodigal son and as a rebel, not taking anybody’s advice, just made a mess of your life.

But if that all those series of bad decisions and decades got you to this point where you meet Jesus and you encounter true wisdom, then all things work together for good. There is no regrets anymore. Just one encounter. All of what happened before is gone. You don’t dwell on that at all. That’s the truth of the gospel. You meet Jesus once. Everything you did up until that point, it got you to that place.

Maybe you would never have gotten to that place if you were just successful in your career, if everybody thought you were great, if you are a famous minister and everything is going well for you, and you never truly encountered wisdom embodied in Christ. Then you’ve lost everything. Then you’re living the life of a fool, and you don’t even know it. But if you led a life of a rebel, you made a series of mistakes, and you have regret upon regret, you meet Jesus in that moment, all the regrets been washed away.

That was a, that was what was necessary for you to get to that place. And I was telling the brother, “you think you could have avoided those regrets? I don’t think so.” There are things in you that needed to come out, and you, unfortunately, needed to learn the hard way, which is, like most people, we just had to hit rock bottom for us to humble ourselves and say, “I need true wisdom, because I thought I understood life, I thought I knew what to do, but I made a mess. I have all these regrets.”

All of that led to the confession, I need Jesus. I need Jesus. I’m saying to that brother and to all of us, you’re in a good place if you reach that place. Wisdom is a person that we need to encounter and follow. All things work together for good. So if everything in your life was a mess and it got you to the place, I need Jesus. No more regrets. You don’t have to dwell on the past. No more regrets. God did what he needed to do.

All things worked together for good, even our rebellion, even our failures. It got you to this point where you’re humbly kneeling before the father and saying, give me Jesus. Give me wisdom from above. First Corinthians 1:18.

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18, ESV)

¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:19-20, ESV)

²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:20-21, ESV)

²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:22-24, ESV)

Jesus is the power of God and the wisdom of God embodied.

And we’re preaching about Christ who was crucified. And everybody says that message is ludicrous, absurd. Why are you talking? Why are you putting all of your hopes in this historical figure who you cannot even prove ever rose from the dead? And yet, we say this is the wisdom. God opened my eyes to this truth. What an amazing thing. There are so many people who are just like us, and they don’t believe this. What an amazing thing that you believe Jesus. It is truly the grace of God that he opened up our eyes.

He revealed Jesus to us. Jesus is literally the wisdom of God. So it’s not proverbs by itself. These are all pointers of Jesus. Jesus lived out all the proverbs in himself. And how can we now live it out? It says in 1 Corinthians 1:25.

²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:25, ESV)

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; (1 Corinthians 1:26-27, ESV)

²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:28-29, ESV)

³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31, ESV)

As I said in the beginning, if you live life on your own terms and you don’t take correction from anybody, and it’s all on you, you will have many regrets. But if you manage to avoid the pitfalls of life and succeed, and it’s all you, you will also have a lot of boasting. But if you recognize the fact that I understand that Jesus is my savior, that my eyes have been opened and God used everything, even my regrets, even my failures, to get me to this point where I really am desperate for Jesus.

Like, I will do whatever it takes. Like, I thought I was a decent Christian until the Lord asked me to homeschool. Then I see what I’m made of. It is the hardest thing the Lord has ever asked me to do as a man. I’d rather be slaying dragons out there or planting churches. But to be present with the family 24/7, I’m telling you, it’s the hardest thing the Lord has asked me to do. Not because my kids are especially hard.

I think it’s hard for any parent to be with their kids 24/7 because the kids are immature, which is part of, part of what? They’re in the season of life. And the parent has to discipline without being angry, which is an impossibility on a human level, because you’re seeing the same behavior over and over in the same week, and somehow you have to keep your cool while the other person is just laying out all the words. I’m telling you, it’s the hardest thing the Lord has asked me to do. By far. By far.

And that’s why I trust the Lord. I trust the Lord. He knows how to prepare all of us. He knows what it takes. He’s going to try to give us ways in which we can receive wisdom from him. If it doesn’t work, he has to amp it up a little bit. Sometimes you need to fall flat on your face, have a lot of regrets. God really has your attention now and then you say, okay, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I should have consulted him much earlier.

¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs 9:10, ESV)

I should have seen God was using all of these people and circumstances much sooner. I didn’t have to get to this point, but I was that dull. I was that blind, that death God, I was this proud. I needed all of this. God, you really know what you’re doing. And whatever good that comes out of my life, you see what I’m made of. No more boasting is left. There’s no more room to boast. Before, I thought I could boast about something. Now I see what I’m made of.

Anything good that comes out of this life, there’s nothing to boast about. God did it all. God did it all. That’s why if you’re in Christ, he is your wisdom, he is your righteousness, he is your sanctification, he is your redemption. In Christ, there is zero regrets and there’s zero boasting. It is the greatest life possible for you. Otherwise, it’s all on you. And there’s either going to be a lot of regrets and some boasting or a little regrets and a lot of boasting. You don’t want to live that way.

You wanna say, in Christ, I give God all the glory. He gave me everything. In Christ I will be. He is my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification, my redemption. In Christ I have it all. And now let’s connect the dots. How do we do this? If Jesus is wisdom, he is our wisdom. Righteousness, sanctification, redemption, how can we become more like him? It’s in Matthew 11:28.

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29, ESV)

³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30, ESV)

By the time I get to a Sunday morning, I am worn out. I am worn out. I’m worn out from life. I’m worn out from parenting. I’m worn out from trying to earn money. I’m worn out from trying to prepare for a sermon. I am worn out by Sunday morning. And I come to Jesus, Jesus, give me some rest.

And I look back on my week and see all the things that came out that were not right, even the things that didn’t come out. But it was in there that I felt the words, the emotions, the actions. I bring them all to Jesus and say, “Lord Jesus, I am not like you yet. Please, can you teach me?” I bring you my speech. I bring you my soul. I bring you my emotions. I’m giving you a window into what I do every day, certainly every week, I am doing.

I’m bringing all the things that I saw, I did, I felt. I say, Lord Jesus, these things are not of you. I’m in Christ. Why is it like this? And I bring it to Jesus, say, please, can you help my speech to be more like your speech so that I can live out what I read in Proverbs. Because apart from you, I can do nothing. I can’t do this on my own. All the things that I felt, Lord, they’re not coming from your emotions. There’s such a gap here.

So I give in my emotions, and I’m trying to learn from Jesus. Give me your emotions. I see the humility of Christ, how he interacted in scripture, how he is with me, so humble, so gentle. I am proud and harsh. Jesus is humble, he’s gentle. Lord, please help me to be more like you. And Jesus says, keep coming to me. I am your wisdom. Let me take these burdens off you. Just rest in me. Just fellowship with me. I will help you. Just encounter me. Then the wisdom will eventually come out. It’s not just revealed.

It was revealed to Solomon. It’s not just lived out. Solomon couldn’t do it. In Christ, we have a chance. We have a chance to live a truly wise life with no regrets and no boasting.

Okay, let’s pray.

Father, forgive us for our pride, for anger, harshness, a lot of words, disrespect. We know how we speak to others, a reflection of how we view you oftentimes. And so, Lord, we see that we have to start with you. Lord, if there’s something wrong in our relationship with you, it is revealed in our interactions.

It shows up in our, in our families. It shows up in our relationship. And so, Lord, we want to get the first relationship right with you. Thank you for Jesus, your invitation to be reconciled to the Father. We pray that you would help us to surrender and repent of all of our sins, of speech, of our soul, our emotions, our actions, our words. There are many, Lord, we come to you for rest. We come to you for true wisdom, Lord, in you there is no regrets. In you there is no boasting. You do it all.

We are just resting in you. We are just coming to you. Father, you receive all the glory. If anything good comes of our lives, we know in ourselves there is nothing good. I pray that you reveal wisdom. I pray that you help us to live out wisdom. But most importantly, we pray that we would encounter wisdom embodied in Christ Jesus. Meet us now as we close out this service. Thank you for your body that was broken for us. Thank you for your blood that was shed for us, Lord, we’re here to meet you.

Pray that you minister to each of us tenderly and softly. I pray that you would lift up heavy burdens. I pray that you give us rest. Rest from ourselves, Lord. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.