Proverbs 10:12 "Love covers all sins". Peter quotes this in his epistle (1 Pet.4:8). If you really love a person you will cover his weaknesses and not expose them. That is how God has dealt with us. He has not exposed our past sins to anyone. We must treat others in the same way that God has treated us. If you want to be wise, let me give you, my dear brothers and sisters, one bit of advice in your youth. If you know a bad story about someone, let that story die with you. Don't go around talking about it. God will honour you if you do that, especially if it is a bad story about one of His children. He will love you especially. Think of a father whose child has done something wrong and I know something about it. And I never tell anyone what his son did. Don't you think that father will love me very much for that? It's like that with God too, when He sees that we treat His children with love. Proverbs 17:9. "He who covers a transgression seeks love." Did somebody do you some wrong? Did someone hurt you or insult you? Forgive it and ignore it. That is the way of love that a godly man walks in.

Proverbs 11:24 "There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more". This is one of the paradoxes of the Christian life that one who gives receives more, because God blesses him. And the one is stingy becomes poor. When a miser gets converted, he becomes generous. Jesus said to His disciples, "Freely you have received. Freely give." God has freely given us so many things. We must give to others freely too. The widow in the gospels, had only two mites. She gave what she had and I am sure that God honoured her and she suffered no lack. Proverbs 11:25 "He who waters others will himself be watered". If you want God to water you and keep you fresh, you must water others. Why are many Christians so stale and dry? Because God is not watering them. And why is God not watering them? Because they are not watering others. Begin to think about the needs of others and see how you can bless them. You will then find that God blesses you abundantly.

Proverbs 15:13 "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face."It is joy in the heart that brings brightness on our faces. "A cheerful heart has a continual feast" (Prov 15:15). There is a great emphasis in Proverbs on having joy in our life. "A joyful heart is good medicine" (Proverbs 17:22). So joy can make us healthy too. The Kingdom of God is not just righteousness, but righteousness with joy in the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament they had righteousness without joy. Now we have righteousness with joy. There is a spring in our steps, a song in our hearts and a light on our faces as we follow Jesus.

Proverbs 16:18. "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." The reason anyone falls into sin is because he is proud. When we do something stupid, we can be absolutely certain that the cause was pride. The Lord is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24). How does He do that? By humbling us to ground level! If we stand or even sit we can fall. But when we are flat on our faces on the ground, we cannot fall!! So let us keep our mouth in the dust at all times if we don't want to fall. No matter how much God may bless us or use us, let us keep in mind our littleness before God. Thus we will become worshippers of God. And we will never fall.

Proverbs 17:28. "Even a fool when he keeps silent is considered wise."If you are foolish, but want people to consider you wise, what should you do? Keep your mouth shut!! People will then imagine: "He is a man of deep wisdom. That's why he's silent"!! If you had opened your mouth there, everyone would have known immediately that you were a fool. So be quick to hear and slow to speak, especially when you are young and foolish. What blessings there are when we are restrained in our speech.

Proverbs 18:16. "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men."It is through the gift God gives us that He makes room for us to serve in the church. It's pathetic to see many today who have no God-given gifts, who are seeking or fighting for place and honour in the church. We are urged to "pursue after spiritual gifts, especially that we may prophesy" (1Cor.14:1). To prophesy is to speak the Word of God in a way that challenges, convicts, comforts, encourages and builds up (1 Cor.14:3). God doesn't give His gifts to those who don't value them. People will travel hundreds of miles to listen to a man who has a message from God. John the Baptist was in the wilderness and the people from all over Judea went out there to hear him, because he had a message from heaven.