Discipleship Cliff

Welcome to Week One of our Family Bible Study in the book of Proverbs!

Proverbs is a book of wisdom that can be used in everyday situations, like making good decisions, working hard, and building friendships. But it’s not merely good advice. Biblical wisdom is knowledge applied to everyday life for the glory of God. The goal of this Bible study series will be to lead our kids in building practical skills to live by God’s rules in God’s world. Let’s inspire our children to embrace these timeless truths and grow in understanding God’s purpose for their lives!

Let’s Study the Bible Together

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the time we will spend together as a family studying the book of Proverbs. We look forward to learning about wisdom and how to be wise people. Please open our eyes to see how much you love us as we study Proverbs. Thank you for being so good to us. We love you, Lord! Amen. 

Read Bible Passage: Proverbs 1:1-7 “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instructions in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth–Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Background

Big Idea: Lead our kids in building practical skills to live by God’s rules in God’s world.

Proverbs 1:1 tells us that the author of Proverbs is King Solomon, the son of King David. Solomon had a storied past. He was the king of Israel who asked God for wisdom and accomplished amazing things for Israel. He was also the king of Israel, who married hundreds of wives and started worshiping idols from other nations. Marrying hundreds of wives is not wise, and worshiping idols instead of the true God is not wise. Ironically, he wrote THE most meaningful words about wisdom in Proverbs, but did not live by that wisdom for the later years of his life. It illustrates that knowing the right way to live does not always lead to living the right way. There are no completion certificates when it comes to wisdom. It’s a lifelong learning process.

Biblical wisdom is knowledge applied to everyday life for the glory of God. This week’s Bible study goal is identical to the overall goal of the Proverbs series: to lead our kids in building practical skills to live by God’s rules in God’s world. As we read our passage in Proverbs, remember that the reader is given the choice of whether to go after the wisdom that God provides or ignore it. The heart of the issue is a heart issue. Our natural selves do not seek after God’s wisdom at all. We all have blind spots that will go undetected until a trusted friend or advisor exposes them to us. And it’s the same for our kids. Pray together for soft hearts, humility to accept how much room we have to grow, and an awareness of our collective need for God to reveal His wisdom to us.

Note for Parents: You know your kids better than anyone else, so feel free to adjust the questions to work for your family. Enjoy!

Discussion Questions

1. Who wrote most of the Proverbs?

2. What is wisdom?

3. How is wisdom different from just knowing information and facts?

4. King Solomon mentioned four categories of instructions. Parents- discuss each of these with your kids.

• Wise Living –
• Righteousness –
• Justice –
• Equity –

Choose one that interests your family. Why do you think it is important to God? And how does it make you a wiser person?

5. Why do people who are young, like kids, need to get more knowledge?

6. How can the “fear of the Lord” be a good thing? Parents, you may need to explain the difference between being fearful of something/someone scary versus being fearful of someone who is strong/powerful.

7. Why do you think it’s important to live by God’s rules and not just do whatever we want?

Let’s lead our kids in building practical skills to live by God’s rules in God’s world!

Memory Verse: Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.“

Family Life Application

Game – Wise or Foolish?

Instructions: Go through a list of scenarios with your kids and have them decide whether the action was wise or foolish. Ask why after each “wise” or “foolish” answer. Have fun with these and feel free to add some of your own scenarios!

1. You bring your pet lizard to church in a backpack so that he will learn more about Jesus.
2. You ask your parents before watching a new tv show because you want to honor their rules.
3. You decide to read a Proverb each morning before school to help you make good choices.
4. You eat a spoonful of hot sauce to try and impress your friends.
5. You sneak some cookies out of the kitchen to “share” with your siblings.

Closing Prayer: Ask a different family member to end your time in prayer each session.

Note for Parents: Please share a comment to let me know how the Bible study went!

Click here to check out our Family Bible Study in Colossians.