Smarter Not Harder
Part 3
Smart Emotions

Key thought: The wise life is the best life.

Proverbs 4:23 “above all else, guard your heart for it is the well spring of life.”

How do we respond to emotions?

1. Hold them in

Luke 15:28 ““The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’”

2. Let them out

3. Blow them up

4. Take them over

Proverbs 15:15 LB “When a man is gloomy everything seems to go wrong. When he is cheerful everyone seems right.”

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things.”

Proverbs 29:11 “A wise man keeps himself under control.”

Proverbs 25:28 “Those who do not control themselves are like a city whose walls are broken down.”

How do I learn to control my emotions?

a. Think

Proverbs 23:6 “Whatever a man thinks in his heart so is he.”

Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Proverbs 4:23 CEV “"Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life."

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”


b. Try

Your motions can change your emotions.

Philippians 4:12 “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

c. Trust

Proverbs 3:5 (LB) “trust the Lord completely don’t ever trust yourself, in everything you do put God first and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”

I John 3:20 (CEV) “but even if we don’t feel at ease God is greater than our feelings and he knows everything.”

Smarter Not Harder
Part 2
Smart Money

Key thought: The wise life is the best life.

Proverbs 1:1-6 (CEV) “These are the proverbs of King Solomon of Israel, the son of David. 2 
Proverbs will teach you wisdom and self-control and how to understand sayings with deep meanings.3 You will learn what is right and honest and fair. 4  From these, an ordinary person can learn to be smart, and young people can gain knowledge and good sense. 5  If you are already wise, you will become even wiser. And if you are smart, you will learn to understand 6 
proverbs and sayings…”

Why are we dumb with money?

1. We Love stuff:

Proverbs 27:20 (NCV) “People will never stop dying and being destroyed, and they will never stop wanting more than they have.”

Ecclesiastes 5:10 NLT “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!”

I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

2. We lack discipline:

Proverbs 21:20 “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.

Proverbs 13:18 “whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame.”

3. We live for the now:

Proverbs 6:6 “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8  yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.”

Proverbs 21:20 (CEV) “Be sensible and store up precious treasures, don’t waste them like a fool.”

How do we do money the smart way?

1. Replace your love for stuff, with a love for God.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
You cannot love both God and money.”


Proverbs 3:9 “Honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits of your crops.”

Verse 10 “then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

2. Replace your lack of discipline with a life of contentment.

Proverbs 19:23 “The fear of the Lord leads to life, then one rests content untouched by trouble.”

Proverbs 15:15-16 “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.”

Ecclesiastes 4:6 “Better one hand full with tranquility than two hand full’s with toil and a chasing after the wind.”

3. Replace your now lifestyle with an eternal mindset.

Proverbs 23:5 LB “Don’t weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time? For riches can disappear as though they had the wings of a bird!

Proverbs 27:24 “Riches can disappear fast. And the king’s crown doesn’t stay in his family forever"

Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Smarter Not Harder
Part 1
Smart Life

Key thought: The wise life is the best life.

Proverbs 1: 1 “These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. 2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. 3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. 4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. 5 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance 6 by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles.”

3 questions about wisdom...

1. Why do I need wisdom?

1. You’re dumb!

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”

Proverbs 2:10-11 MSG “Lady Wisdom will be your close friend, and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion. 11 Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you. 12 They'll keep you from making wrong turns, or following the bad directions 13 Of those who are lost themselves”

Proverbs 4:7 MSG “above all and before all, do this: Get wisdom! Write this on the top of your list: Get understanding.”

2. Where do I get wisdom?

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 9:10 says it like this… “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Proverbs 2:6 (CEV) “all wisdom comes from the Lord and so do common sense and understanding.”

Proverbs 8:22-30 “ The Lord formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else.
23 I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. 24 I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters. 25 Before the mountains were formed, before the hills, I was born—26 before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil. 27  I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. 28  I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established springs deep in the earth. 29  I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,
30 I was the architect at his side.”

Love for God + respect for God = fear of God.

3. How do I get wisdom?

a. Admit that you don’t know it all 

Proverbs 11:2 “pride leads to disgrace but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 3:7 “do not be wise in your own eyes”

b. Ask God for wisdom. 

Proverbs 2:3-5 "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.”

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Proverbs 2:6-8 “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.”

c. Align your life with God’s word 

Proverbs 2:1-11 “My son… accept my words and store up my commands within you”

Psalm 19:17 (NCV) “The teachings of the Lord are perfect; they give new strength.
The rules of the Lord can be trusted; they make plain people wise.”