This passage is organized into a verse with a command followed by a verse with consequences, and ends in two verses regarding correction. There are a number of irresistible consequences for obedience to God’s commands. You would think no one could consider turning away from such a positive, rewarding course resulting in a life with wisdom, guidance from God, lack of fear, direction over our finances and protection leading to abundant living. The reality of disobedience is God’s experience with man, so in the end He encourages us even when correction becomes the exercise of His love for us. God’s correction assures us that abandonment of His own is not a part of God’s nature, and because of that, we are blessed even in His chastening.

Does God know more today than He did in the past? Is He learning from what is happening around Him? Listen to this lesson to find out how God's knowledge has no beginning and no end and that when He began His creation, He already knew all that is knowable. See how living by God's truths leads to stability, contentment, and happiness that doesn't depend on what's going on around us. Discover the contrast between the rich full life of those who find wisdom and the death-like existence of those who hate wisdom.

"I'm okay but you're not so great." Is that the way you feel sometimes? Listen to this lesson to learn that we are to confess our flaws and failures in humility and dependence on God before we point out others' weaknesses. Learn about self righteousness and the arrogance cycle. Understand that while we are to evaluate others we are not to be hypocrites and try to set everyone else straight. Accept that when we decide others need to be punished, we will receive discipline in the same manner.

Are there any parts of the Bible that you really wish weren’t there? Listen to this lesson to hear about one passage on how to deal with a sinful Christian. Find out that believers should go to the offending believer in private and that restoration is the goal. If the unconfessed sin has become public knowledge, the believer may need to be removed from the church. See what “binding on earth is already bound in heaven” means. Take away from this message that if you are involved in a situation with an offending believer that involves discipline, it is to be done in humility, grace, and love.