The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs by Debbi Bryson Read Free Book Online

instructors.
          I have come to the brink of utter ruin.”
    PROVERBS 5:7-8, 11-14 ( NIV )
    Today’s proverb is a warning to stay away from immoral sex. Although written for sons, it applies to our daughters as well. Even though this was written many years ago, it mentions the very same type of damage that occurs with immorality today.
    It’s been wisely said that “tomorrow is the best reason for doing the right thing today.” Yes, there is pleasure in sin for a season, but beware: it takes a serious toll.
    And so I feel it’s important for us as women to be aware of the devastating consequences of sexual sin. STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) have become epidemic. We are learning more and more of the long-range damage this does to your body.
    But more than that, immoral sex does not just mess with your body. It messes with your emotions, your thought life, and with your soul. Each time you have sex with someone, you bond in a deep place. When that relationship is torn, it tears a piece out of you. Sin is such a liar. Sin promises simple pleasure, but it delivers a powerful and complicated punch of pain and problems.
    Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!
    Maybe you are thinking, If only I had known then what I know now. Because everyone was doing it, you caved in to pressure to sleep around. Now you can look back and see a long trail of disappointment and pain. So, what now? I am so happy to say that God is the God of the fresh start. Purity is first spiritual, then it becomes emotional and physical. Jesus came to redeem and restore. Will you ask him and will you let him restore you, “white as snow”?

    One Year Bible Reading
    Exodus 2:11–3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14

January 27

    Faithful Husbands
          Drink water from your own cistern,
               running water from your own well. . . .
          Let them be yours alone,
               never to be shared with strangers.
          May your fountain be blessed,
               and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
          A loving doe, a graceful deer—
               may her breasts satisfy you always,
               may you ever be captivated by her love.
          Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
               Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
          For a man’s ways are in full view of the L ORD ,
               and he examines all his paths.
    PROVERBS 5:15, 17-21 ( NIV )
    Ladies, our proverb today is written to our husbands, telling them to be faithful to us. This is a wonderful thing.
    I was with some of my friends recently who were telling me about their daughters who have taken oaths of purity. Not only are they committed to wait until marriage to have sex but they are committed to not even kiss. One of the young girls told her friends, “I don’t want to kiss a man who might later be someone else’s husband.” Good job, girls!
    But is this possible in this generation? Is it worth it to even try? It helps to break some of the fallacies about sex outside of marriage. Studies show that couples who live together are not more satisfied, because there is no commitment. Cohabiting men are four times more likely to cheat than married men, and cohabiting women eight times more likely than married women—showing again that the grass truly is greener on your side of the marriage fence.
    Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!
    Although this proverb is addressed to husbands, let’s now talk about our part. Make no mistake, there are many wives who make it hard for their husbands to be satisfied at home. When your husband comes home, are you still in your oldest, ugliest sweats? Is there no sign of dinner, and do the bills show you have been shopping too much? Your husband deserves more, and trust me, someone out there would like to give him more. Tonight, cook his favorite dinner and give him a reason to be