Proverbs 3:5-6 Sunday School Lesson Outline

Today’s verses are pretty well-known but they are good ones.

Turn to Proverbs 3:5-6:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to Him,

    and He will make your paths straight. NIV

 

We are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts.

What does that mean?

It means completely, in every way, in every situation, with everything we care about

Our kids, our fears, wants, dreams, health, decisions, actions

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

There is nothing in our lives or hearts that we are not supposed to trust Jesus with.

 

What does it mean to lean not on your own understanding?

It means to put aside how you understand things.

It means to realize that you don’t have it all figured out, but God does.

It’s being wise enough to know that when we trust God we don’t have to even try to understand everything.

It is choosing to lean on His understanding of things instead of ours.

We only have to obey Him and trust He will work it and handle it, no matter what our “it” is.

 

Trusting the Lord with our whole heart is not easy.

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Proverbs 11:2 Sunday School Lesson Outline

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (NIV)
When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom. (KJV)

 

I don’t know about you, but if I’m not very careful, my pride can sometimes trip me up.

Unfortunately, pride is not something that we deal with once and we’re done.

Pride stays with us and is typically an issue in some form or another our whole lives.

Not that we are bad or a failure, but because the flesh is stubborn and wants what it wants.

 

For this reason…

We have to choose to set our pride aside and humble ourselves on a daily, sometimes moment-by-moment basis.

 

Now there are 2 kinds of pride. One is good and one is bad.

 

The good one is like when you take pride in something you are doing.

You want to do a good job and you want to get it right.

You care about your work.

Wanting to do a good job and do the best you can is a good thing.

You enjoy doing a good job instead of a half-baked job.

That kind of pride is okay.

 

The other kind of pride is the one being addressed in this verse.

It’s the bad kind.

Here’s Google Dictionary’s definition of it:

Pride – over-inflated sense of self-importance.
When you think more of yourself than you should.

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Proverbs 20:5

During my quiet time I was reading Proverbs, chapter 20.

Verse 5 really spoke to me:

The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters,
but a man of understanding draws them out. (NIV)

 

It reminded me of my morning journaling and how I use those pages to take the thoughts and concerns of my heart before the Lord.

Journaling gives me a chance to spread my true feelings and thoughts out and examine them as I seek guidance and wisdom both through prayer and through searching Scriptures for verses that speak to each situation.

The purposes (or motives) of my heart are not always pure.

Sometimes they need adjusted. I need reminded to bring them into alignment with God’s will. I need convicted of, and corrected for, my sinful thoughts and selfish ideas.

The feelings run deep. Deep hurts. Deep fears. Deep imperfections. Deep hungers.

Bringing them out to allow Christ to shine the light of Truth on them means He can show me where to change, what to adjust, where to keep on keeping on.

This helps me to become more like Christ and to be in a better position to serve the Kingdom.

It allows me to become who God has called me to be.

It is this spreading out before the Lord that allows those feelings to be sorted, healed, and dealt with. It allows Him to remind me that He loves me and that He has each situation under control and on track, even when I can’t see Him working.

That’s a great reassurance to me because I know that means God is taking care of me in all these situations and all I have to do is trust Him as He works all things together for good.

He’s a good God and He will take care of those who love Him!

 

What about You?

Do you have a method you use to draw out your heart thoughts so you can bring them into alignment with Christ and with God’s will for your life?

If so, I’d love for you to tell me about it in the comments below.