1. My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within
you,
2. turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to
understanding,
3. and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4. and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for
hidden treasure,
5. then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the
knowledge of God.
6. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and
understanding.
7. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to
those whose walk is blameless,
8. for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his
faithful ones.
9. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair —
every good path.
10. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant
to your soul.
11. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
12. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose
words are perverse,
13. who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,
14. who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of
evil,
15. whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
16. It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife
with her seductive words,
17. who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant
she made before God.
18. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits
of the dead.
19. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
20. Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths
of the righteous.
21. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will
remain in it;
22. but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful
will be torn from it.
Wisdom is about practical godliness — doing smart things to
honor God and respect other people.
The passage above, for example, tells how to resist sexual
immorality (such as Web smut). The advice is in the form of "if...then"
conditions, such as: "if you accept my words" (a wise father speaking in verse
1), "then you will understand the fear of the Lord" (verse 5).
Struggling with porn? Check out the entire passage above and write
out all the "if...then" conditions. (Tip: Some of the "if...then"
relationships overlap.)
See if there isn't some good advice for dealing with smut.
One more thing: Don't stop with this passage. The book of Proverbs
(and all of Scripture) contains countless wisdom precepts that will help you avoid trouble
— as well as show you how to bounce back if you fall. Search for these precepts
daily.
Happy hunting!