The integrity of the upright will guide them.

So far in Proverbs, we have looked at the fear of the Lord as the foundation of knowledge and the foundation of wisdom, as found in Part One and more recently, we have been highlighting the contrast between God’s wisdom and foolishness, as discussed in Proverbs 4–10, which is Part Two.

Those chapters present wisdom as a life-preserving path and foolishness as a road that leads to utter ruin or destruction. These chapters urge us to get wisdom above anything else — to guard our hearts, to avoid crooked speech, and to walk in righteousness. It takes discipline to walk in righteousness.

Proverbs 8 tells us that wisdom is an open call to everybody. It is not something that is covert, nor is it reserved for just a select few. Everybody can become wise. If we begin by fearing the Lord, we can be well on our way to prudence and integrity and protection and true understanding.

When you look at Proverbs 5, 6, 7, and 9, they highlight how folly emphasizes seductive paths that lead to destruction. The fatherly warnings stress that we should avoid sexual immorality, laziness, deceit, violence, and the seven progressive abominations that the Lord hates.

Those chapters contrast them with a life ordered by obedience to the Lord. This month, we have been praying that we would walk in obedience because obedience is better than sacrifice.

Look at this progression that Part Two laid out for us. It’s a progression of what happens when you don’t walk in obedience — the abominations the Lord hates.

• Arrogance — a proud look
• Deception — a lying tongue
• Violence — hands that shed innocent blood
• Intentional wickedness — a heart that devises wicked plans
• Eagerness to do wrong — feet swift in running to evil
• Corrupt testimony — false witness that speaks lies
• Community-destroying behavior — sowing seeds of discord among brethren

That is how foolishness manifests itself — in total destruction of the bonds that saints should have.

So ultimately, Part Two of Proverbs frames foolishness as a deliberate turning toward darkness, instability, and death — and it frames wisdom as a gift worth giving.

You might think that wisdom is not yours to give — because of course, wisdom comes from God. But when you drop your water pot, or your smartphone, or the various social media sites and other debilitating hindrances that have crippled you with distractions — maybe not “five husbands,” but distractions — and run to tell somebody about how they too can fear the Lord and become wise, you will understand that not only is wisdom yours to give by way of your excited leaps and proclamations — like it was for Peter and John and later the man who got healed in Acts 3 — but that wisdom itself is greater than any financial prowess, any self-help tools, or any text message you think you need while you sit in a holding pattern at the gate Beautiful.

Ironically, it is wisdom that lifts us from the gate. And once we’re lifted, there is an ongoing pattern — righteousness versus wickedness — that either sustains the gift or squanders it. This is where Part Three of Proverbs takes us next.

We are now starting Part Three, and our scripture for this morning is Proverbs 11:3:

The integrity of the upright will guide them.

Proverbs 10–15 makes up Part Three, reverberating with the truth that the gift of wisdom must mature into the character of wisdom. So wisdom is a gift that has to become a heart — it has to become a part of you — part of your DNA.

Part Three demonstrates how righteousness, restraint, generosity, and integrity become the daily evidence of the very gift God has placed in our hands.

It is filled with moral parallels that contrast the righteous and the wicked. These chapters emphasize that righteousness leads to stability. It leads to wise speech — what we say will be wise. It leads to diligence, integrity, and life — as opposed to wickedness, which brings ruin, shame, conflict, and death.

We see virtues like honesty, restraint — and I’m saying that word so many times — restraint in speech — generosity, humility, teachability, and the fear of the Lord in these chapters.

The counsel in this third part of Proverbs is that the righteous use their words to fuel their work, to prosper others, and their choice to walk in life-giving paths helps build up people around them.

Meanwhile, fools reject correction, stir up strife, embrace dishonesty, and follow impulses that destroy themselves and others.

We are really focusing on the gift of wisdom. I’ve included what the opposite looks like — just so we can be reminded: if we hear any of these things that are opposite to wisdom, maybe we need to get a little bit closer to the fear of God.

Across these chapters — Proverbs 10–15 — wisdom is tied to moral character.

Virtue is not only right behavior, but the very path to blessing, peace, and longevity.

The man in Acts 3 who sat at the Beautiful Gate received more than coins. He received the kind of life-changing gift that Proverbs calls true wealth. He was expecting pocket change from Peter and John — instead, he received a gift that utterly transformed his health, his emotional integrity, and restored his dignity. His gift was more than small change — and it was larger than a mega millions win.

When we look at Proverbs 10–15, we note that virtue is not in material wealth, but in righteous behaviors, integrity, and the generosity that satisfies the physiological needs of our brothers — the needs of the body. So when we think about that — we think about our brothers and our neighbors and just people in our sphere — what do we do to help satisfy their physiological needs so that they can even listen to us talk about Jesus?

Strangers as well as our family.

Peter’s and John’s response illuminates the Proverbs pattern that is all over Proverbs 11:24–25:

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich; and he who waters will also be watered himself.

If we give — if we minister to people in deed — we will be ministered to ourselves. We will be watered ourselves.

The righteous give what truly benefits.

Proverbs 10:11 says that their words bring life, and their actions uplift rather than enable destruction.

Proverbs 12:25 shows that instead of offering temporary relief, the righteous give what aligns with godly virtue — the kind of gift that changes lives.

A transformative gift — not pocket change.

The lame man embodies the posture of somebody expecting a lesser gift — just as Proverbs warns us not to fix our hope on transactions, appearances, or quick rewards. The disciples instead modeled the greater gift — the wisdom that chooses what is eternally profitable over what is immediately convenient. This is Proverbs in action: righteousness and righteous character produce generous actions, generous actions produce flourishing, and flourishing becomes a testimony that amazes the people around. Ultimately, it becomes a tool that can bring people into the family of those who are truly wise.

Read Proverbs 13:9 and Proverbs 14:26. And again:

The integrity of the upright will guide them. — Proverbs 11:3

Father, we thank You for Your Word. We pray that we don’t just talk, not only listen, but try to understand that this gift You give to us is for us to go and tell somebody — so that they can have access. And all they have to do is believe and then walk in it.

They can believe, they can move around — other people can see that they are changed. Because this gift — the gift that begins with reverencing You, recognizing that You are the true God — this gift is one that we need to give away, because it is a gift that continues to give.

So Lord God, we thank You this morning. In Jesus’ name. Amen.