Lesson for January 29, 2023
The Victorious Christian Way of Life
Lesson 5
The Lifestyle of Wisdom
Proverbs 2:6-15
“For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding (Bible doctrine). He stores up sound wisdom (proper application of doctrine) for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and fairness and every good path in life. For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, to deliver you from the way of evil, to deliver you from the man who speaks perverse things; to deliver from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; to deliver you from those who delight in doing evil and rejoice in the perverse ways of evil; to deliver you from whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.”
The Lifestyle of Wisdom means advancing through the three stages of spiritual adulthood: 1) Spiritual self-esteem, which is spiritual self-confidence, the beginning of the effective use of the Problem Solving Devices of the Protocol Plan of God for the Church Age 2) Spiritual autonomy, which is spiritual independence and the continuation of effective function of the Problem Solving Devices of the Protocol Plan of God 3) Spiritual maturity, which is spiritual invincibility and maximum application of the Problem Solving Devices for the Protocol Plan of God.
Self-esteem is defined as respect for self, satisfaction with oneself, or a good opinion of oneself. Self-esteem is confidence in what you know, and how to put it into practice. Spiritual self-esteem results in maximum humility. Spiritual self-esteem is confidence in God, and His Word. It is not confidence in human viewpoint thinking. (Romans 12:1-3)
Spiritual self-esteem is attained through Bible doctrine in your soul, and as a result, things begin to come into focus, spiritually. Things like sharing the happiness of God, which begins with contentment, then becomes capacity for life, love, and happiness in every circumstance of life.
Bible doctrine in a believer’s soul and the proper application of that doctrine to life in spiritual self-esteem keeps priorities aligned with accurate Bible doctrine. The proper application of Bible doctrine keeps a believer from “getting the cart before the horse.” Before any believer attempts to “serve the Lord,” they must first learn some doctrine. Failure to do this is the meaning of “getting the cart before the horse.” For example, no believer can be an effective witness for Christ until they fully understand how to clearly present the Gospel. An unclear presentation of the Gospel only confuses an unbeliever.
Spiritual self-esteem keeps Christian service in proper perspective. Spiritual self-esteem gives you the spiritual strength to avoid the “beyond doctrine” movement which says, “Bible doctrine is not enough, there must be more,” which is normally tied to some emotional experience. The advance to spiritual self-esteem occurs through the consistent learning and application of doctrine, not by emotional experiences.
Spiritual self-esteem includes the following characteristics:
1) learning accurate Bible doctrine from a pastor-teacher 2) humility, without which there is no teachability in life. 3) the development and use of spiritual common sense and good judgment based on Divine Viewpoint Thinking. 4) proper application of Bible doctrine to your thinking and behavior 5) understanding and utilization of the Problem-Solving Devices 6) Divine Viewpoint Thinking replacing Human Viewpoint Thinking so the believer has the same mindset as Christ 7) making good decisions from a position of strength instead of making bad decisions from a position of weakness.
Spiritual self-esteem includes a personal sense of destiny. The doctrinal status of spiritual self-confidence means that doctrinal concepts are fully realized, though perhaps not fully developed. At this point, a believer already has a tremendous amount of doctrine in their soul, but they also have tremendous vulnerability to the sins of arrogance, like self-deception, self-justification, and self-absorption.
Spiritual self-esteem recognizes that emotions are never the basis for the spiritual life. Spiritual self-esteem continues to make Bible doctrine a priority in life and fulfills the command of Philippians 3:16, “Let us keep on living by that same standard to which we have attained.”
Spiritual self-esteem eliminates setbacks and failures in life. Spiritual self-esteem eliminates arrogance as a rule of life, emotion as a criterion for the spiritual life, and lack of problem solving.
Spiritual self-esteem is related to all of the Problem-Solving Devices of the Protocol Plan of God. Spiritual self-esteem is confidence in the result of using the Rebound Technique rather than in the reality and shock of one’s personal sins. Spiritual self-esteem is the knowledge that after admitting our sins to God, we recover fellowship with God, which results in the filling of the Holy Spirit being restored.
Spiritual self-esteem means the effective use of the Problem-Solving Devices. A successful Christian experience during life’s disasters includes the following:
1) Occupation with Christ replacing self-absorption (preoccupied with or eyes on self). Therefore, you meet the disaster, not in preoccupation with self, not in complaining, but through the principle of occupation with Christ. 2) Impersonal love for all mankind meaning to “live and let live,” and not be preoccupied with the behavior of others 3) Sharing the happiness of God which includes tranquillity of soul and contentment replacing eyes on the circumstances that surround you.
Spiritual self-esteem emphasizes the reality of the Faith-Rest Drill over the reality of one’s problems, adversities, disasters, and stress situations. Spiritual self-esteem is grace orientation rather than circumstance orientation. Our happiness should never depend on the circumstances surrounding us. Our circumstances are not the issue in life. Bible doctrine must be more real to us than our circumstances.
Spiritual self-esteem is having a personal sense of destiny. Spiritual self-esteem is sharing the happiness of God, meaning maximum contentment in every circumstance of life whether it is good or bad. Spiritual self-esteem is the function of virtue-love: personal love for God and impersonal love for all mankind.
Spiritual self-esteem is the first stage of spiritual adulthood, the status of giving high priority to learning Bible doctrine, resulting in dependence on God’s grace rather than depending on human power. Spiritual self-esteem recognizes the importance of our two power options – the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine.
Spiritual self-esteem is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is the result of learning and applying Bible doctrine. Understanding Bible doctrine and how to live the Christian Way of Life comes over a period of time as spiritual self-esteem is developed. Spiritual self-esteem results in the development of a believer’s confidence in the Protocol Plan of God as they continually see it working in their lives. The key to reaching spiritual self-esteem is love and respect for God and His Word. Proverbs 9:9-10, “Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser; teach a righteous person and he will increase his insight. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Spiritual self-esteem is attained through building a spiritual life within our souls. Living the spiritual life means understanding how the Christian Way of Life works related to our Portfolio of Invisible Assets, the Problem-Solving Devices and to everything that God has given us. An understanding of the mechanics of the Christian Way of Life is the first step in the development of spiritual self-esteem. Having attained spiritual self-esteem means you can make proper doctrinal applications so that your life becomes full of meaning, purpose, and definition.
In spiritual self-esteem, a believer keeps priorities aligned with accurate Bible doctrine. Priority number one is to learn accurate Bible doctrine. Priority number two is to apply what you learn, which results in divine production. Spiritual self-esteem keeps Christian service in proper perspective. Spiritual self-esteem gives you the spiritual knowledge to know the difference between human good and divine good.
Spiritual self-esteem is characterized by the status of “Christ being formed in you.” (Galatians 4:19)