We don’t always need the perfect plan or the right words. Often, obedience, restraint, and a teachable spirit speak louder than expertise.

While passion and desire inspire us, Proverbs teaches that plans built on knowledge and guided by wise counsel are stronger. Let’s make our plans prayerfully, trusting God to lead and align them with His will.

Reading Proverbs daily shaped my spiritual habits in my 20s, but wisdom literature alone isn’t enough. If we only read Proverbs, we risk missing the full, redemptive story of Scripture—and the deeper preparation God desires for kingdom living.

Maybe AI can help us learn what Solomon tried to teach us several centuries ago. Proverbs 17: 27 offers advice that AI might have recently confirmed: “Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.”

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.”

I did OK in school, but I seldom spoke up. I’m learning later in life that may be a pretty good approach.

If giving thought to God’s Word leads us to good things and ultimately to God’s blessing, then reading scripture is an essential aspect of our lives.

With each new generation there seems to be a higher expectation that any and everything should be instant. But as I read Proverbs, I’m thinking about time in the development of wisdom.