The fear of the Lord is wisdom. This truth means that when a person stands before God in respectful, awed reverence for him, trusting that He knows what He is doing, that is the beginning of wisdom. We will never possess the answers to life’s riddles until we possess what the Bible calls the fear of the Lord. This reverent fear of God is lived out through our obedience to him. There is only one way we can begin to unravel the riddles of life, and that is through the wisdom God gives as a reward for our obedient fear and love for him.

Reflection
Think back to a time when you were unfairly accused of something. What was your response? How could your response have been different? Do you feel the need to answer every accusation? Do you trust that God is for you and is capable of your defense? Are there times when your defense just seems to make things worse? Take some time to pray and ask God to make you more secure in your faith in Him. Ask Him to help you overcome the urge to take offense and defend God’s honor when someone tries to impose their walk with Christ on you and define what your walk with Christ should look like. Ask God for grace and wisdom so that we might think clearly and with consistency through the challenges in today’s culture.