Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

A good name is better than precious ointment… verse 1

It is better to have a regular quiet time than to be a party animal… verse 2. “The house of feasting often shuts out thoughts of God and eternity”

Godly sorrow is better than all the laughter in the world… verse 3

It is better to be sensitive and sympathetic to the hurts and needs of others around you, than to be thoughtlessly lost in diversion and amusement… verse 4

It is better for a man to be rebuked than for him to listen to all the pop culture hype and “make me feel good” sermons in the world… verse 5

It is better to be a little reserved and quiet than to drive around with a boom box in the your car blasting music at the highest volume. It is even better to lower the volume of you chatter with friends or the music at your party than to disturb your neighbor’s sleep. It is even better to tune it down than to be the loudest in the room… verse 6

It is better to be fair than to take a bribe… verse 7

It is better to finish what you started than to start something and not finish it… verse 8

It is better not to be quick in one spirit which leads to anger, but to be quick to listen and slow to speak…verses 8 and verse 9

It is better to embrace each day as a gift from God than to dwell only on the past…verse 10

It is better to use wisdom spending your money than to shop until you drop… verse 11, 12

It is better to flow with the Lord than to kick against the goads …verse 13

It is better to understand how God moves in our lives… than to be clueless about how he uses the good, the bad and the ugly for our growth and for his good pleasure… verse 14

It is better to be humble than to have a spirit of pride and a ‘holier than thou’ attitude. It is better to pretend to lose some arguments than to be obsessed with winning every argument or disputes… it is better to let others share their two cents on a subject than to be Mr./Mrs know it all… verse 15

It is better to know when to insist on the justice of one’s cause than to just sit there and be a doormat for everyone to walk over… verse 17, 18

It is better not to take to heart things that people say… lest you hear your servant cursing you… rather put your heart in God’s hand… verse 21

It is better to admit mistakes and acknowledge sinful tendencies than to act like you are perfect… everybody knows you are not… verse 22

It is better not to yield to sinful temptations – for you do not know how far it will take, how long it will keep you and how much you will pay for it… verse 25. In this case it is better not to listen to Solomon…

It is better to die than to fall in lone with a Casanova. It is better to please God (living sexually pure) than to fall in the hands of a woman/man whose heart is a snare, a net and whose hands are fetters… He who pleases God escapes her/him, but the sinner is taken by her/him…verse 26

It is better to find the love of God in Christ Jesus than to look for all the riches and wisdom of the world… it is better to gain Christ and lose the world than to gain the whole world and forfeit you soul… verse 27, 28

It is better to walk in the path God has laid out for you… than to seek your own… verse 29