Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances. Here are a few nuggets from Proverbs 11 to help guard us in the right direction:

Lead a life of honesty
God hates cheating in the marketplace; he loves it when business is aboveboard.

Practice humility
The stuck-up fall flat on their faces, but down-to-earth people stand firm.

Use integrity as a guardrail
The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.

Place more value on faith, hope and a principled life than on riches
A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart, but a principled life can stand up to the worst.

Leave a good name and a good
reputation everywhere you go
Moral character makes for smooth traveling; an evil life is a hard life.
Good character is the best insurance; crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.

Seek to leave a lasting legacy
When the wicked die, that’s it—the story’s over, end of hope. A good person is saved from much trouble; a bad person runs straight into it.

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city you live in
When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers; when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates.
When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes; evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time.

Remember the Modesto Manifesto and keep it holy
Mean-spirited slander is heartless; quiet discretion accompanies good sense. The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction; the common sense of the godly preserves them. A gadabout gossip can’t be trusted with a secret, but someone of integrity won’t violate a confidence.

Apply caution, discernment, lots of prayer, and godly counsel before you make decisions
Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned; if you keep a cool head, you’ll avoid rash bargains.

Get a mentor, a coach, seek advice, stop acting like you know it all
Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.

Commit to excellence in whatever you do
Bad work gets paid with a bad check;
good work gets solid pay.

Stop church hopping… Find a church and be faithful there
Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live, or chase after phantoms of evil and die.

Love God and what He loves
God can’t stand deceivers, but oh how he relishes integrity.

Stay Confident… With God you will always triumph
Count on this: The wicked won’t get off scot-free, and God’s loyal people will triumph.

Value discretion far above beauty and rubies
Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful face on an empty head.

Always check your motives to see if it’s pure
The desires of good people lead straight to the best, but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration.

Enlarge your tent by a life of generosity
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. When you’re kind to others, you help yourself; when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself.

Put others first – this is consistent with the golden rule
The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

Play fair and square
Curses on those who drive a hard bargain! Blessings on all who play fair and square!

Be a student of what is good that is exactly what God is
The one who seeks good finds delight; the student of evil becomes evil.

In all your pursuits – be devoted to the pursuit of God
A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

Live according to wisdom with your family
Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air; common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live. A woman of gentle grace gets respect, but men of rough violence grab for loot. Husbands love your wives; wives respect your husbands. Husbands live according to wisdom because she is a weaker vessel. Wives live with humility because you are smarter than they are.

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance… Others will notice and be blessed
A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.

Keep an eye on eternity and determine where you want to spend it
If good people barely make it,
what’s in store for the bad!

Heading of each verse is mine
Proverbs 11 The Message