"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (Proverbs 13:20).

This seems like common sense, but it is very uncommon sense. I remember when I entertained the idea of starting my own bank. My dad said, "Why don't you meet with the VP of Bank of America?" I said, "What?! He won't have time for me." He said, "How do you know unless you ask?" But I never did.

Why do we fall for every gimmicky ad on television, every emotional appeal from itinerant preachers, a stranger's stock tip, even marital advice from someone who has been divorced several times? Rather than seeking expert advice, we are more comfortable settling for something far less reliable. No wonder, as this proverb teaches, we do ourselves more harm than good.

When I look back on my own life, I recognize that I had the greatest success when I listened to expert advice, whether from a person or from books. I had the greatest success investing in a local real estate market when I found help from the top realtor in the area. I had the greatest success investing in the stock market when I followed the counsel of one of the greatest mutual fund managers of all time. I learned the importance and advantage of daily disciplines over a long period of time from someone who has amazed me for years with his disciplined lifestyle: my father. And I have gained wisdom for every aspect of life and faith from the most influential book ever written, the Bible.

Friends, what do you want to do? Do you want financial success through investing? Don't talk to just anyone; find the best in your area of interest and learn from them. Do you want to grow in faith? Don't just pick up the latest bestseller at the bookstore; read the Bible, from which every great person of faith has found their guiding light. Be a reader of great books, and find great people to be your mentors and companions on your life's journey.

I have not done this as well as I would have liked, but as I read this proverb, I am reminded again of the importance of seeking out the wise rather than being a companion of fools. I realize I cannot simply think and talk about it; I must do it.

This week our family enjoyed a week-long get-together in Freeport, Texas. We enjoyed fishing right off the dock of the house we were renting. There was a house diagonally across from us that was for sale, and we all seriously thought about buying it. We even went to see it with a local realtor.

I noticed an elderly man fishing off a small pier right next to that house. He looked like the owner of the pier, because there was a "Private Property" sign beside it. I commented to my brother-in-law that it would be good to get his take on the house. Normally that would be it — just a suggestion. But something moved me to drive over and talk to him. I'm glad I did, because he had lived there for forty years. He was the first to buy on the canal, and he knew most of the property owners. He also knew a lot about the house we were interested in. He told me the history of the area and the stories of the various people who had bought there. He told me about the hurricanes that had come through and the damage they caused. He told me what kinds of fish came there and the best times to fish. And he told me the house we wanted was structurally unsound and the lot too small to do much with. In contrast, the realtor who showed us the house knew almost nothing about it. That elderly man's information completely changed my mind about buying the house.

Friends, why is it so important to be the companion of the wise? The wise have the right information amid a sea of wrong information. Often they have experienced many of the pitfalls in their area of expertise and discovered what works and what does not.

When we were fishing on the beach, I saw a man casting a net into the ocean and catching many good-sized fish every time. I had a net, so I threw it out too, expecting to catch a lot as well. But after many throws, I hadn't caught even one small fish. After about an hour, I went over to talk with him. He told me he had been doing this there for over twenty years, and he could see the fish trails in the water, so he knew exactly where to cast. He pointed to a trail of fish, but my eyes could see nothing. He told me to look carefully at the current and the disturbances in it. Then I thought I began to see a little of what he saw. But I realized I would need to train my eyes through a lot of watching and casting to see as he did. I had to leave then, but I think what I learned from him saved me both time and frustration from blindly throwing my net into the water.

Friends, let us be companions of the wise. And let us also become wise ourselves, so that we can be companions to others who seek wisdom from us.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The comment's two fishing stories are an apt picture of Proverbs' view of wisdom: it is learned through long observation, and it can be passed on only to those willing to ask. The elderly neighbor knew what the realtor did not because he had watched the canal for forty years; the net-caster could see fish trails because he had spent twenty years reading the water. Proverbs 20:5 has a similar image: the purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, "but a man of understanding will draw it out."

Scripture has a sobering counterexample. When Rehoboam became king, he consulted the old men who had served his father Solomon, and they advised him to lighten the people's burden. He rejected their counsel in favor of the young men he had grown up with — and the kingdom split (1 Kings 12:6–16). Proverbs 15:22 states the principle: "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed."

The fishing scene also recalls Jesus' own instruction to the disciples who had fished all night and caught nothing: "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some" (John 21:6). They did not see what He saw either — but they listened, and the net was full.

Proverbs 16:21, 23

21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

The wise know right from wrong, they are just. They add gracious words to gather others together.

It is one thing to be right, like God.

It is another to speak sweet words, like God.

But doing them both is a meek and noble thing, as God.

We are instructed to take on God's traits several times throughout the Bible. God demonstrates it then we're told to do it.

God is right, that alone is enough; if you stray from good then decay and waste is near. But God also has might and power, but this is not his way to persuade, first the spirit works in us, then God speaks good sweet words of love, security, and kindness through the gospel.

The wise, the humble of heart and mind, follow the pattern set by God: hard and stern against sin, discerning and sweet towards people.

James 3:9 rebukes harsh evil words spoken to people, people made in the image of God.

To tie this with a New Testament writing:

(emphasis added)

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace (sweet and kind), seasoned with salt (discerning and right), so that you may know how to answer everyone (being wise).

AI-Expanded Reflection

The sayings cited are Proverbs 16:21 and 16:23. They connect wisdom of heart with discerning and persuasive speech. The heart in biblical wisdom is the center of thought, intention, and moral direction; speech reveals what is being formed there. Sweetness does not mean flattering someone into agreement or making an unpleasant truth disappear. It describes a manner that enables instruction to be heard. Wisdom is concerned with the hearer's understanding, not only the speaker's correctness.

The original rightly holds content and manner together. A true claim can be delivered with contempt that obscures its purpose, while pleasant speech can conceal deception. Proverbs exposes both errors: the wise person uses words to instruct, whereas deceit may also speak smoothly (Proverbs 26:24–26). The moral difference lies in truthfulness, intention, and effect. Graciousness should make truth more accessible, not make manipulation more effective.

James 3:9–12 grounds restraint in the dignity of the people addressed. A mouth that blesses God and curses those made in his likeness contradicts its own worship. This does not prohibit identifying wrongdoing or speaking firmly. It does prohibit treating a person as an object of contempt simply because the person is mistaken, hostile, or difficult. James's later portrait of wisdom as peaceable, gentle, merciful, and sincere gives positive substance to that restraint.

The glosses added to Colossians 4:6 are the contributor's explanations, not part of Paul's wording. “Seasoned with salt” need not be assigned one fixed lexical meaning such as discerning; the image is shaped by the call for gracious and appropriately responsive speech toward outsiders. The surrounding request that Paul proclaim clearly also reminds us that grace does not require vagueness about the gospel. Clarity and consideration can strengthen one another.

In practice, the wise speaker asks what this particular person needs to understand. That may require listening first, defining a disputed term, admitting a point of agreement, or separating a moral concern from a personal accusation. Timing and proportion matter: a correction can be accurate but unnecessarily public or much larger than the offense warrants. The goal is not to control the response, which remains the hearer's responsibility. It is to ensure that the obstacle is not our own pride or carelessness. Speech becomes a form of love when it offers truth in a manner shaped by the good of the one who hears.

The word "but" appears 76 times in these chapters. The writer of Proverbs deals with just about everything — money matters (13:11), integrity (14:2), righteousness (14:34) — down to the different kinds of people we deal with every day and how they're classified: fools (14:3, 7, 9), mockers (14:6), the sensible person (14:8), the disloyal (14:14), the inexperienced (14:15), the quick-tempered (14:18, 29), and the patient (14:29). The kind of person we're supposed to become isn't based on how much money we have, or how many cars, houses, and stocks fill our portfolio — we're supposed to become people of wisdom, knowledge, and experience, who know what's actually important in life. The Bible has a lot to say about the fool. My own definition: the fool is the person with head knowledge of God who nonetheless believes they can reach heaven without Him, or who denies God exists at all, while remaining arrogant enough to believe they're not a fool. The fool is the person who puts other things ahead of their family, friends, and relationship with Christ.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The specific structure this comment notices — 76 uses of "but" in these chapters — is worth naming for what that word grammatically does: it sets up contrast, weighing one path or person against another rather than offering a single flat description. That structure fits Proverbs' larger purpose well, since wisdom literature isn't primarily trying to define abstract categories (what is a fool, in the abstract) but to train readers to keep making comparative judgments in real time — this response versus that one, this kind of person's trajectory versus that kind's. This comment's own working definition of a fool does exactly that kind of comparative work, measuring against what's genuinely important rather than offering an isolated definition.

The book of Proverbs offers observations on life from the perspective of the fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7). So lessons on humility, diligence, honesty, discretion, prudence, discipline, righteousness, and wisdom — the kind found in chapters like today's — all grow out of a heart devoted to trusting and obeying God. I shared yesterday that many biblical benefits, rewards, and blessings find their fulfillment in heaven rather than on earth, and that a lifetime of suffering, rather than peace, is often the lot of the righteous in this life. One big lesson from that is not to make temporal benefits the reason we trust and obey God. As Solomon writes elsewhere, everything under the sun is meaningless, a chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14). Even so, Ecclesiastes concludes by counseling us to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13) — pointing to rewards "above the sun," in heaven, from an eternal God. What Jesus would later call treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and thieves don't break in and steal (a paraphrase of Matthew 6:20). So let's follow Scripture's counsel and trust and obey the Lord with that same motivation — not for temporal benefits, but for the far greater riches of heaven. What does that look like practically? Let's be humble, even when we see the proud succeeding. Let's be diligent, even when we see the lazy prospering. Let's stay honest, even when the dishonest seem to get ahead faster. Let's pursue righteousness, even when we suffer for it. Let's bless when others curse, and love when others hate. Let's keep doing all of this until the day we die, knowing that whatever we suffer in this life can't compare to the glory that will be revealed in us (a reference to Romans 8:18–25). It's our hope of resurrection, our expectation of being with the Lord forever, that makes this kind of life even possible. In our martial arts organization, we teach principles like: be patient, be polite, respect yourself and others. I often teach that we have to be patient even when others are impatient with us, polite even when others are rude to us, respectful even toward those who disrespect us. That's what we practice — but I recognize not everyone has the motivation that makes this kind of counsel actually reasonable: a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It's only because of our hope in Him that this kind of self-denying action makes sense at all. It was "the joy set before Him" that enabled Jesus to endure the cross and its shame (a paraphrase of Hebrews 12:2). Paul argued that if Christians have no resurrection hope, we'd be the most pitiable people of all (a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 15:16–19). But we do have a very real hope of heaven and eternal reward — so we can endure all things through Him who strengthens us (a paraphrase of Philippians 4:12–13).

AI-Expanded Reflection

The bridge this comment builds between martial arts discipline and Christian hope is worth noting for where it locates the real difference: the behaviors themselves (patience, politeness, respect even under provocation) can be taught and practiced by anyone regardless of belief, but this comment is honest that the deeper motivation for sustaining that behavior when it costs something — when patience isn't reciprocated, when respect isn't returned — is where a resurrection hope actually does distinctive work. That's a useful distinction for thinking about virtue more broadly: good behavior and the ultimate reason for persisting in good behavior under real cost aren't automatically the same thing, and this comment's own teaching context makes that gap concrete rather than abstract.