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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. Welcome to day 308 here at the Bible Department. Today we are looking at Proverbs chapters 19, 20, and 21, and hopefully we just get a little bit more wise. Like, the goal is to get wiser and wiser and wiser and wiser and wiser. If we walk with the wise, we will get wise. And reading the Proverbs is a way to walk with the wise. Wise people have left us their writings, and we want to walk with them by reading what they've got to say. And so if you have not done the reading today, how about you stop this video, pause the audio, go get the reading done? Okay? You want to get Proverbs chapters 19, 20, and 21 fully read and then come on back. All right, for those of us who have done the reading, know real context clues for today. Again, this is not really how Proverbs works, Right? It's not a book that is heavy on context, but very, very heavy. Almost every single line out of the book can be applied timelessly as a truth to your life. So low on the context clues, heavy on the timeless truth. I've been enjoying giving you nerdy nuggets every day, aka my top 10. Today, I've got seven. I think finally I'm gonna be wise. I'm gonna be realistic. I think I can give you seven of my favorite verses that came out of today's reading. So let's get to it. All right, again, no context. No. No author, no audience, no history. None of that. Okay? Not today, at least. So I'm gonna give you seven verses that stuck out to me and just kind of, kind of talk through those, okay? Proverbs 19, verse 11. Obviously, we got chapter 20 and chapter 21 today on the docket. So let's start with Proverbs, chapter 19. Proverbs chapter 19, verse 11 says this. A person's wisdom yields patience. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense. A person's wisdom yields patience. Man, how do you know if you're a wise person? Are you patient? Are you a patient person? Okay. Wise people are in it for the long haul. Okay, Remember, Proverbs is going to warn against get rich quick schemes like Anything that's kind of like overnight success. Proverbs is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Gather money little by little, right? Succeed, grow little by little. So this same idea can be found in Proverbs 19:11. A person's wisdom yields patience. Well, what's required to make an investment and, you know, not see a return on that investment for 30 years. To leave your money in the stock market and just let it do its thing for 30 years. Patience. To buy a piece of property and just let it become more and more valuable over time. Patience, okay? Patience. Impatient people want to buy property, then sell it, and then, like, buy stocks and sell it. You know? Patience, okay? A person's wisdom yields patience. Patience. Not in a rush. Zero rush. That doesn't mean that there's never an urgency. It just means there's never a rush. There's a big difference between urgency and rush, okay? And so, all right, it is one's glory to overlook an offense. So not only, okay, I'm going to be patient in life, but I'm going to be patient and my dealings with other people. And I'm able to overlook an offense. Cause I'm a patient person, which means, you know what? I understand that it's gonna take time to develop the people around me or to be in reconciled relationships. And so patience is par for the course. You know, if I'm gonna be someone who is gonna have fruitful relationships, then I'm gonna have to have the kind of patience that can overlook an offense. That's a great verse, man. Proverbs, chapter 19, verse 11. That's worth memorizing. A person's wisdom yields patience. You can't claim to be wise if you're not patient, okay? You can't claim to be wise if you're impulsive. You can't claim to be wise if you're like. If you've got this, like, frantic kind of behavior. No, no. Patience. Patience. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense, okay? So when you. When you overlook an offense, don't think, oh, that person got over on me. Think, oh, it's to my glory that I overlooked that offense, right? That. That actually reflects good on me. It's not. I'm not soft because I overlooked an offense. I am wise because I overlooked an offense. All right? It's my first one. Proverbs, chapter 19, verse 22. Proverbs, chapter 19, Verse 22 says this. What a person desires is unfailing love. Better to be poor than a liar. Better to be poor than a liar. Okay? What a person desires is unfailing love. What is unfailing love? Unfailing love is the kind of love where you can be honest, okay? And then it says, better to be poor than a liar. Okay? So the Bible is giving us wisdom around lying. Like, hey, you, you. If. If you just met a woman, it's better to be poor. Like, it's better to let her know I'm poor than to flex or to pretend like you're somebody that you're not. Because that's not going to be a relationship that leads to unfailing love. You just set yourself up for a gold digger to find you if you're flexing and lying and acting like you're somebody that you're not. But. But it's better to be poor than a liar. You don't need a lie. You don't need a lie. When I first met my wife, she knew I was broke. I was broke. It's okay. I'd rather be. I'd rather be poor than a liar. I'm not going to lie about and make it seem like I got more than I do. I don't. I'm broke. I need somebody who's down to help me and who's down to build with me, who's down to build an empire with me, who's down to build a ministry with me. I'd rather be poor than a liar. Okay, next, Proverbs, chapter 20, verse 1. Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise. Is not wise. All right, let's dive into this one because I'll kind of tell you my own story and then kind of teach a principle here that I think Proverbs, chapter 20, verse one wants us to learn. Okay, first. First the story. I grew up in a church that essentially taught that any drinking was sin. Drinking alcohol, whether it was a tiny amount or enough to get you inebriated, was a sin. Okay? And then I went off to college and I met people who. And then I lived in England. And then I. I just came to the realization, okay, the perspective that I heard at church growing up is not true. And so I had to deconstruct that idea that drinking was a sin. Now, here's what happens when you deconstruct. When you deconstruct, you don't know what to trust and what not to trust. So you start questioning everything that that church or that that person taught you. Instead of chewing the meat, spitting out the bones, you spit out all the meat. Any meat and bones, you know. And so deconstruction always leads to an overcorrection. And I know a lot of people who this is the path that they went on. They were raised in a church that said drinking is a sin. And then they realized, okay, the Bible doesn't say that drinking is a sin. And so then in their newfound Christian liberty, they began to enjoy, indulge, and maybe even abuse alcohol. And recently, probably the last two to three years. Maybe three years. Yeah, probably three years, I made a personal decision that alcohol was of no positive value to me, that I was enjoying and indulging in alcohol just to celebrate the fact that I could just to be, you know, I'm free, I'm a Christian. This wasn't right. So I'm gonna enjoy it. Cause I can. And I don't know, I just got to a place of like, why am I doing something just cause I can? Doing something just because I can do it is not wise. Literally, Paul says, everything is permissible for you, but not all things are beneficial. So the real question to ask is never, well, is that a sin? It's a terrible question. The is it a sin Question is actually not a wise question. Here's a good question. Is it wise? Is it beneficial? Is it profitable? Will it jeopardize my witness? Wisdom is not asking about whether it's a sin. Wisdom is wondering, what's the value add. And so for me, I realized I actually don't need to come to any theological stances on whether or not this is a sin or not, because it's not a sin issue. It's a wisdom issue. And so I began to realize consuming alcohol is just not very wise. It's not a very wise thing to do. So I stopped. I also st. And this is also why I began to operate in wisdom as opposed to freedom. You know, what do I have the right to do instead of operating in my Christian rights? I decided, yeah, who cares what I have the right to do? Let's just talk about what's wise, what's beneficial. And I came to this conclusion. If I did not consume alcohol, I could passionately people who did and didn't consume alcohol. By being someone who does not consume alcohol, I could lead people who do and don't consume alcohol. However, if I was someone who did consume alcohol, people who don't consume alcohol would be turned off. And my job is not to assert my rights or my freedoms as a Christian. My job is to be all things to all men. So I put it on the Altar and said, I could sacrifice that. Because anything that you can't just slit its throat and sacrifice is an idol. Wine is a mocker. Doesn't say getting drunk's a mocker. Wine, wine's a mocker. Beer a brawler. Wine and beer, mockers and brawlers. Whoever is led astray by them not wise. It doesn't say that whoever's led astray by them is in sin. It says, whoever's led astray by them not wise is not wise. And so I think that a lot of times we get stuck in this, well, is it a sin? Is it not a sin? Is it a sin? Is it not a sin? And I think that's such a silly debate. Debating on whether or not things are sin or not sin, I think is immature. Here's what I think is really mature to ask a better question. Is it wise? Is it beneficial? Is it a value add? I think that's a more helpful question. And I think you'd be hard pressed to convince me or anybody else that drinking is a value add. Now, I'm not saying that you need to abstain. I'm not. I'm just offering a wise perspective, which I think Proverbs chapter 20, verse 1, wants us to at least consider. Okay, next one. I did three so far. Okay, number four. Proverbs chapter 20, verse 13 says, do not love sleep, or you will grow poor. Stay awake and you will have food to spare. I need, like, every person under the age of 30 to tattoo that on their chest. Do not love sleep. Do not love sleep. If you like sleep. If you're just like, yo, man, I just love sleep. All right, you're going to be broke. Do not love sleep. Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor. I know a lot of people love sleep. They love sleep. You know, they're. They're just like, I got to get in bed at a certain time. I can't wake up, you know, early. It's like, all right, cool. You love sleep. You like sleep, cool. You and sleep gonna be buddies. You and sleep gonna be friends. Because sleep broke. And you broke. Y' all both broke. You and sleep both broke. So I watched this dude, this guy, you know, he was like, hey, I can tell you right now, based on what time you go to sleep, I can tell you how much body fat percentage you got. And I felt convicted because literally the time that he said certain people go to sleep, I was like, that's my body fat percentage. And I think there's something powerful about being an early riser we have multiple episodes of this podcast filmed every morning. You know, Cam picks me up from my house at 6 o' clock in the morning. By the time 9:30, 10 o', clock, by the time other people on our team roll in, me and Cam have already finished two, three, four episodes. You know, I don't love sleep. I don't love sleep. One day I'm asleep, I'm. I'm. I'm gonna do a lot of sleeping. You know what I'm saying? In my 70s and my 80s, when I'm dead, I'm asleep. But it's not time to sleep right now. It's time to get this work done and. And these videos ain't gonna record themselves. And this Bible ain't gonna study itself. This church ain't gonna build itself. Those who love sleep do not love sleep, or you will grow poor. That doesn't mean you can't appreciate sleep. Doesn't mean that you can't desire sleep. It doesn't mean sleep's not an idol. So, you know, a lot of times it's like, we got 5 o' clock flights. That means we wake up at 3 o' clock in the morning, we get picked up from a Hotel at 3 o' clock in the morning and get brought to the airport. And it. That's just a lot. That's part of being an adult. If you're grumpy when you don't have enough sleep, you're still a toddler like that. That's crazy. Yo. That's childish. I'm kind of grumpy. I didn't get enough sleep. Are you three me? You grumpy? You didn't get enough sleep. Do not love sleep or you will grow poor. Stay awake and you will have food to spare. It's a good verse. Fantastic verse. All right, next one. I just love wisdom because it's not complicated. It's like, hey, hey. Fall out of love with sleep. If you love sleep, you got to start telling yourself, I don't love sleep. The only way. But we've created this narrative and culture that you can't fall out of love with something that you love. You know, once people say they love something, it's like it becomes an untouchable idol. But you can't love sleep. You're going to be a bad parent if you love sleep, because kids are born and they take away all your sleep. Okay? Proverbs 20:19 says this. A gossip betrays a confidence. So avoid anyone who talks too much. Isn't that a good verse? Avoid People who talk too much. If people gossip, just avoid them, Avoid them like the plague. I tell people negativity and gossip are like bad breath. It's going to cause people to just back away, you know, just, just, just move, just take steps back. You know, gossip and negativity. You start complaining around me or gossiping about other people, I'm going to cut that conversation short. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be like, oh, wow, the Angel Gabriel's calling me. Look at that. I gotta go. I'm definitely gonna be like, oh, wow, Mickey Mouse is FaceTiming me. I gotta, I gotta, I, I gotta go. You know, you start just venting or just complaining about this, complaining about that, complaining about this being negative. You know, I was talking to somebody recently and they were just being super negative, and they were like, yeah, and I can't find a job. And I was like, now when you go to job interviews, is this the person who goes to the job interview? Because I've interviewed a lot of people. Guess what? I want, I want excited. You know, I'm not trying to hire a depressed person to work at our organization. I'm not trying to hire Eeyore, you know, so if you walking in the job interview with Eeyore vibes, I, I, they were like, yeah, I've done like 20 job interviews. I can't find a job. I was like, I could probably tell you why. You know, you got a negative vibe, you got negative energy. Guess what? Positive, full of joy, you know, just chipper, upbeat, man, everybody's attracted to that. But gossiping, negative complainers, you know, slackers, avoid anyone who talks too much. That's good advice right there. Proverbs, chapter 21, verse 17 is number six. Proverbs, 21:17. Family, the wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we Wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. Whoever loves pleasure will become poor. Whoever loves pleasure, pleasure will become poor. Whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich. I think sometimes we associate wealth with a life of luxury, but actually Proverbs makes the argument. Wealth isn't about how much luxury or how much sleep or how much of that stuff you can get. The average wealthy person does not live a life of pleasure and luxury. The average wealthy person in America owns a dry cleaners, a laundromat, drives a Ford F150. The average millionaire in America is the kind of person who you know is. Is not living a flashy lifestyle. Okay. Whoever loves pleasure will become poor. Absolutely. My dad found pleasure in crack. So that brother's poor. Anyone who the enemy can manipulate your desire for pleasure, you're going to become poor. So if you like porn, you're going to be poor, you're going to be broke, because that's a form of pleasure. You're going to be broke, you're going to find yourself poor. Because anyone who. The moment the enemy knows you know your weakness for pleasure, he can exploit you. And. And anyone who could be exploited is always going to be poor. So anyone who's just like, I want pleasure, I want a soft life, I want an easy life, I want luxury. You know, you're going to be poor because you're going to end up working to spend money on vacations you can't afford and on stuff that you can't afford. So now you're working to keep up a certain lifestyle instead of working to invest, working to sew, working to put away money so that you can have capital to start a business. So whoever loves pleasure will become poor? Absolutely, yes. That, yeah. Cause you'll look at a budget and you'll twist the numbers to get the things that you want. Pleasure means that you're not thinking with your brain. You're thinking with your emotions, you're thinking with desire. And that's just not a way to make decisions. Whoever loves pleasure, that person going to become poor because they're going to end up buying the things that bring them pleasure because pleasures aren't free. Okay? Whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich because it means that you're. You're going to. You're going to be. People are going to take advantage of you. They know what you find pleasure, and they'll take advantage of you. And then last. Our last number seven is actually our timeless truth. So it's Both a nerdy nugget and a timeless truth. Here we go. It's Proverbs, chapter 21, verse 9 and 19. And these are right next to each other. In my Bible, verse nine is on, like, the left column and verse 19 is on the right column. Okay? It says this. Better to live on a corner of the roof than. Than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. Ooh, don't nobody want no argumentative wife, man. It's better to live on the corner of a roof than share a house with a wife who's quarrelsome. Ugh, Argumentative. Ugh. Quarrelsome, nagging, annoying right next to it. Okay, verse 19. Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife. Okay? So as a NERDYDY NUGGET, Number one, if you currently have a girlfriend who's quarrelsome and nagging, break up with them. Because if they're nagging you now, like, marrying them is not going to put an end to the nagging. If they're mothering you now, that's not going to stop. When you guys get married, all the red flags for quarrelsome nagging behavior are there. Quarrelsome and nagging, like, hard to agree with, not agreeable. You know, they want you to take their last name. You know, they, they. Oh, boy. They wanna, they. Oh, Jesus. They want to hyphenate their last name. They don't want to take your last name. Just hard to agree with, you know, just quarrelsome and like, nagging. Like, just don't, don't, don't waste your time. Stop. Because. Because the life with that woman is going to be aggravating to no end. You're going to want to be on the corner of the roof, and what's going to happen is you're just going to not go home and you're going to find ways to avoid being around her. And I would say that if you're a woman, don't be with a quarrelsome or nagging boyfriend. Leave that joker. So if he's always complaining, always negative, you know, if he's angry, like, that's just quarrelsome. It's good that you guys have healthy conflict. But if the bulk of the relationship is just arguing and bickering, that's just annoying, man. That person doesn't know how to just be agreeable. It's better to live in the desert than live with that. So that's our nerdy nugget. Now let's flip it into a timeless truth. Guess what family we are the bride of Christ. If you're a Christian and you're listening or watching this podcast, we are the bride of Christ. So here's a question. As a bride, am I a quarrelsome and nagging wife to Jesus? Do I keep telling him about the things I need and what I asked and what I asked for the last time I prayed? And God, please give me, please God, give me this God, please give me this God. Are you nagging or are you worshipful? Are you praising when we gather on Sundays? I never want our church to be a nagging church to Jesus. I want us to be a church that worships the Lord and praises him regardless of what he's done. And so that comes from a place of gratitude. You've already done more than enough. I'm winning. I'm winning. I'm grateful. And if we can go back up to the nerdy nugget, if you're someone who's quarrelsome, the issue is that you're not content and you lack gratitude. If you were to up your level of contentment and gratitude, you wouldn't be a quarrelsome spouse. And then spiritually, if you were to get contentment and gratitude, you wouldn't be quite quarrelsome and nagging to King Jesus. And so that's timelessly true. So many of these are timelessly true, but that one is a hundred percent true for New Testament believers today. Tomorrow we got day 309. We're gonna be looking at Proverbs 22, 23, and 24. I'm pumped. I love Proverbs. If you can't tell, I love wisdom. Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. It's a chief thing. Here's the beginning of wisdom. Get wisdom. I'm glad that you're here with me, tuned in so that we can get wisdom together tomorrow. We got Proverbs 22, 23, and 24. If you're on a streak, I'm proud of you. Even if you're not on a streak, I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.