Proverbs 27:8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home. Principle You will never hold onto what you’re ungrateful for. I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve seen men who have worked hard to build a house, furnish it and gather up their man…

Proverbs 26:13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!” Principle Adventure may hurt, but monotony will kill you. The greatest temptation in a man’s life is comfort. My grandfather was a strong man. His strength came from the factory, not the gym. He was…

Proverbs 25:19 Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot. Principle In times of stress, you need confidence. A few months ago, I injured my foot during a Crossfit routine. As much as I wanted to keep going and continue…

Proverbs 24:16 For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked are overthrown by calamity. Principle You can’t keep a good man down. Remember the movie Rocky, the underdog boxer given a cursory fight with the champion, Apollo Creed? Rocky was poor, clumsy, and simple – but there was something deep…

Proverbs 23:21 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. Principle A man who cannot control his desire will never leave a legacy. It is an amazingly blunt statement – “Esau I have hated. I have laid…

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender. Principle Debt brings a staggering burden of responsibility upon the borrower. I have seen the crushing weight of debt upon men. I have seen men sabotage their own lives to remove themselves from leadership responsibilities of debt. Debt…

Proverbs 21:13 If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor, your cries will go unheard, unanswered. Principle How you respond when someone calls upon you determines the way God responds when you call upon Him. As I was driving, my prayers were spontaneously being spoken out loud. The church that I pastored…

Proverbs 20:8 Leaders who know their business and care keep a sharp eye out for the shoddy and cheap. Principle Nothing destroys a business faster than being average. My friend, John Mason, wrote a best seller called, The Enemy Called Average. Average is an enemy that is often underestimated because of its creeping ability. When…

Proverbs 19:19 Let angry people endure the backlash of their own anger; if you try to make it better, you’ll only make it worse. Principle If you reward temper tantrums, you will have to do it repeatedly. We’ve all seen the emotional outbreak of a child in the checkout line – screaming and kicking about…

Proverbs 18:17 In a lawsuit, the first to speak seems right until someone comes forward and cross-examines. Principle When I was young and naive, I trusted people; when I matured and gained wisdom, I tested people. There’s an old show that ran for 9 years back in the early 1960s called Perry Mason. Each episode…