I am Prudent - Daily Devotional for Women by Anna Szabo of Online Discipleship for Women

Do you care about your future? Do you know in which direction your life is going? Do you have a plan for how not to end up where you don’t want to be? I used to not care about my future and acted as if there were no tomorrow. The Bible teaches us how to be prudent. Prudent is defined as acting with care and thought for the future. The synonym of prudent is wise. Did you know that in Christ you are prudent and have access to God’s infinite wisdom? That’s what today’s devotional “I am prudent” will reveal. I’ll share my personal journey from carelessly living my life like a mindless fool to getting baptized by God’s Spirit and washed with His holy water, after which I began considering where my life was going and how to glorify God with my thoughts, habits, actions, and relationships. The breakthroughs shared here permanently changed my identity, beliefs, perspectives, values, and lifestyle.

I am Prudent #52Devotionals Devotions for Women  by Anna Szabo

Introduction

This Biblical devotional for Christian women is one of the 52 devotionals, with which God blessed me in 2017, as I was barely surviving in an abusive marriage with a narcissistic husband. I was extremely traumatized. My heart was broken. My identity was shattered. I felt devastated, depressed, and desperate for God. As always, He revealed Himself to me by showing me who I am in Christ.

It was a season when much pain was inflicted on me. Through eloquent and clever manipulation, the narcissist gaslighted me to make me feel mentally incompetent. He projected his faults on me to make me feel guilty for his failures. He pulled me in and out multiple realities: sometimes, there was Mr. Jekyll, and other times, I was in the same bed with Dr. Hyde. The unspeakable shock and lasting trauma of the cruelty I endured in that miserable marriage are described in my essay “What Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Do to Your Psyche.”

To say that my mental health was negatively impacted is a significant understatement. I had to be under the care of a Biblical counsel and a trauma counsel while married to the narcissist. I felt suicidal. His abuse hijacked my ability to look ahead, make sound judgments, decide for myself, and take consistent action. I was confused, living in a fog, always having unexpected crying spells, and feeling overwhelmed every moment of every day. My brain’s excuse function, as well as my overall intelligence, were greatly compromised.

On my path toward healing, during my many honest conversations with God, while in narcissistic abuse recovery, I began leaning on God, surrendering, dwelling on His word, learning what He says about me, and writing 52 devotionals for myself and other women to get grounded in God’s divine and healing truth. Today, when I’m writing this, is December 23rd, 2020. God healed me. He restored both my brain’s executive function and my intelligence.

God showed me that I am smart and prudent.

He taught me how to live prudently.

His wisdom is infinite.

And it’s ours.

Prudence vs Intelligence

Sometimes, we confuse wisdom with smarts. Intelligence has nothing to do with wisdom. I have four diplomas indicating my intelligence. I graduated from four universities, three of them with high honors. Yet, I was not wise. In fact, I was unwise.

What does it mean? 

Being unwise means acting with no care or thought for the future. I wasn’t born or raised a Christian. I didn’t know Jesus. Nor did I have any clue that my future was an eternity, not just a mere tomorrow. I studied hard and partied hard, too. Alcoholism and adultery reigned in my daily life. My future wasn’t my concern because I was caught up in my everyday present. In many instances, I was careless, thoughtless, and mindless. One time, drunk, at night, with my girlfriend, I physically attacked a hospital security guard in Kursk, Russia. I was jailed for one night. Remembering that makes me cringe, yet, I’m sharing everything. Why? I want to show you through my testimony how God works.

The Bible uses certain adjectives and nouns to describe people who are unwise. The Scriptures describe unwise people as “mockers,” “fools,” “stupid,” “lacking knowledge and understanding,” and “simple.” If I was so intelligent, why was I unwise: stupid, simple, foolish, and a mocker? I was sleeping around because of my sexual addiction. I was not in a personal relationship with Jesus and I didn’t know how He set me free from sin. I was an alcoholic and got drunk regularly to calm down my anxiety from the constant violence in my family home. I didn’t know Christ. I didn’t know about the relief of casting my anxieties on Him. I didn’t know that God cared. I lacked the knowledge and understanding of the healing power of prayer vs alcoholic beverages and seductive sex. I was overspending and getting myself into debt. I had a desire to feel good about myself. I thought that new shoes, purses, dresses, and push-up bras would make me feel accepted and affirmed.

I was smart. My intelligence was outstanding.

Yet, I had no prudence. I was unwise.

I didn’t have a clue that I was a child of God, the King of the entire universe. I lacked the knowledge and understanding of the most important truth: I was a beautiful Princess, a royal heir. My father in heaven gave me an inheritance of His kingdom. 

Prudence is not thee same as intelligence.

Prudence vs Knowledge

Be careful not to confuse the word “knowledge” the Bible uses to talk about prudence and wisdom with our secular understanding of the word “knowledge.” Below is a real-life example from my journey with my ex-husband, the narcissist.

The narcissist had a lot of knowledge about Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover,” and at the megachurch, where he worked, the narc even got to counsel some Christian on the topic of money. He always said: “I know this, I know that, I know everything!”

The reality though was that none of what the narcissist read or heard or knew did he actually apply in his own personal financial life. He actually was in a ton of debt, lied about it to lure me into a marriage with him, and after the wedding, I discovered months of unpaid mortgage, insurance, credit card debt… The narc even wasted my own paycheck on his IronMan addiction, leaving me with zero in the bank, unable to eat. So, the narc knew about sound financial principles, however, he lived like there was no tomorrow. He had no wisdom whatsoever. Though the narcissist was knowledgeable on the surface, in real life, according to the evidence from his actual finances, he was a foolish mocker.

Prudence is not the same as knowledge.

The kind of knowledge the Bible references when using the word “knowledge” is explained below:

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.

Ephesians 1:17

The word “knowledge” in the Scriptures refers to the personal encounter with Jesus, which leads to a spiritual awakening, a new heart, a new identity, a new spirit, and a new life. It refers to the fear of the Lord. It means a thorough understanding of grace and salvation. It implies that the person knows about eternity being spent either in hell or in heaven. That’s different than the meaning we secularly assign to the word “knowledge.” The biblical word “knowledge” refers to wisdom, spiritual awakening, prudent living, and sacred revelations from having an intimate relationship with God through His Spirit.

As Christians, we should never practice wisdom and live with prudence out of fear of judgment. If we have the “knowledge” the Bible speaks about, we know that Jesus died and bled for our sin to set us free from it. On the contrary, if we experienced, accepted, and understood God’s grace, we must genuinely and wholeheartedly desire to live a prudent life out of gratitude for our salvation. Wisdom comes from God through His Holy Spirit. So, let’s define prudence. What is it?

Prudence Defined

The best definition of prudence and an explanation of what it means to be prudent is found in Proverbs. Very often, as I get ready for bed, I turn on the reading feature in the Bible App, choose the Book of Proverbs, and enjoy getting knowledge and understanding.

I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;

    I possess knowledge and discretion.

To fear the Lord is to hate evil;

    I hate pride and arrogance,

    evil behavior and perverse speech.

Counsel and sound judgment are mine;

    I have insight, I have power.

By me kings reign

    and rulers issue decrees that are just;

by me princes govern,

    and nobles—all who rule on earth.

I love those who love me,

    and those who seek me find me.

With me are riches and honor,

    enduring wealth and prosperity.

My fruit is better than fine gold;

    what I yield surpasses choice silver.

I walk in the way of righteousness,

    along the paths of justice,

bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me

    and making their treasuries full.

Proverbs 8:12

As you can see, being prudent results in having a direction in life, which determines how you make decisions, interact with others, set and protect your boundaries, respect people by being considerate and tactful, and honor God. Without a clear direction for my future, I was wandering around, seeking happiness, caught up in toxic positivity, traumatized by chronic abuse for decades, I was lost, so got myself in trouble. My life is described in an essay called “Getting to know Anna Szabo.”

In 2014, I gave my life to Christ.

I got baptized and began listening to God’s voice.

He’s been teaching me wisdom.

The direction of my life has become more clear.

Clarity and focus are of God. Confusion is not

It’s taking Jesus years to rid me of my pride, arrogance, and perverse speech – all the things you saw from Proverbs wisdom hates. I’m working on becoming more Christ-like and tactful, out of genuine gratitude for my salvation. For three years after my baptism, I still had a lot of anger, rage, self-righteousness, and used profanity to express my point of view. I still can go off sometimes, but God’s convictions help stir me in the right direction every day.

The more Jesus has been working in my heart and the more I am dwelling on His gift of my salvation, the less anger there is and the more I want to honor God with my life and character. I’m far from being perfect, of course. But I do have more peace, joy, love, faithfulness, self-control, and other blessings of the fruit of the Spirit that Proverbs talks about. The justice, wealth, riches, and full treasures that Proverbs refers to are not worldly money but our kingdom-inheritance

I have the riches of contentment and an intimate relationship with Christ. I have joy in my heart, peace in my mind, and I know that my path is directed by my Lord.

It’s priceless.

Prudence vs Folly

Prudence is a consideration of the future as we discern how to behave and what actions to take. Lack of such consideration is folly, according to the Bible. I developed a step-by-step model demonstrating how prudent thinking happens and the outcomes. It’s called the ITCEBO model, and you can download it now here.

Folly stands for foolishness, or a lack of good sense. It means doing what feels good. It refers to the way of life that doesn’t delay gratification and pursues immediate pleasure. It’s the kind of lifestyle I lived for decades. The Scriptures make it very clear what the result of such a lifestyle will be eventually.

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,

    but the folly of fools is deception.

Proverbs 14:8

I lived a foolish lifestyle on my own and was also married to three fools in a period of ten years: from 24 to 34. I didn’t have much wisdom and neither did they. One was 28 years older than me, the second one was 26 years older, and my last ex-husband was five years older than me. I wasn’t prudent and unfortunately got myself in a lot of trouble with the three mockers I married.

I got deceived.

Folly traps you in deception.

Prudence vs Discernment

Why was it easy to get deceived when I lived a foolish lifestyle and didn’t give much thought to my future? Because I didn’t have God’s discernment. In my first two marriages, I wasn’t a Christian and didn’t know Christ personally. What happened in my third marriage is described in great detail in my essay called “How Satan Came at Me Looking Saint.” At the time, I didn’t believe in Satan, however, not believing in stop signs and red lights doesn’t protect anyone from getting into deadly accidents and paying fines for citations. I’ve learned my lessons.

The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.

Proverbs 14:15

The “steps” are behaviors, actions, choices, and patterns of living. The verse above is on point. I didn’t give much thought to my patterns of living. I didn’t give thought to my steps, and I ended up deceived. God is warning us. We need to know this. When I wanted to finally become prudent and gain wisdom, where was I supposed to get it from? How could I all of a sudden have good discernment? 

Proverbs 14:18 answers this question:

The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

Proverbs 14:18

When we give our lives to Christ, we inherit the crown of knowledge. Remember that knowledge refers here to wisdom and prudence? It’s a gift that’s already ours. All we need is to reach out, accept the gift, take it, and actually use it.

Have you ever walked into a room, with a beautiful Christmas tree there, seeing clearly the gift wrapped beautifully and marked with your name? And then you got distracted and left the room, forgetting the gift… The gift was already yours. It had your name on it. It belonged to you. It was assigned to you to have it. Its purpose was for you to enjoy it. The only reason why you still didn’t have the gift was that you didn’t accept it. You didn’t take the gift that was already yours, so you couldn’t enjoy it. 

I found out from studying the Bible that prudence and good discernment are already mine because, when I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior, I was crowned with knowledge. The only reason why I had not yet had the crown of knowledge and prudence was that I never reached out for the gift to take it and have it. 

Once I accepted the crown of knowledge that was already mine, I began making better decisions, having better discernment, exercising wisdom, and being prudent. Trust me, I’m far from perfect, but my life is so much better now that I do give thought to my steps and try to honor God with my life because I appreciate Him.

Prudent Living Honors God

How is my life better now that I am being prudent? So glad you asked! Peace, joy, clear conscience, no drama, contentment, no abuse, meaningful existence, purpose in my heart, and the list goes on! Prudence leads to protection and provision.

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Proverbs 22:3

I don’t do stupid things as I did before. If I see a situation arise, in which anger and rage can take over, I humble myself and take refuge in prayer. I have more compassion and patience, as well. If I see the danger of bitterness and resentment from unforgiveness about to poison my heart, I take refuge in God’s command to forgive one another. If I see the danger of anxiety and fear paralyzing me, I take refuge in God’s peace by reciting His truth out loud: His word. 

Being prudent doesn’t just help us avoid trouble. Prudence leads to a peaceful and joyful existence. Wisdom gives us the gift of contentment. When we have peace, joy, and satisfaction with what is, we are rich people. That’s why the Bible says that wisdom is more precious than money. Living a prudent life improved my health in every way. I haven’t been sick for 24 months, and that’s a blessing.

Thanks to God’s word and His wisdom, I’m more careful, reasonable, certain, and decreed. I’m no longer confused. I’m no longer guided by my impulses or lust. I live a single and celibate life without parties or alcohol. I enjoy writing poetry, ministering to you on this Christian blog, and spending quality time with God. I give thought to my behaviors and decisions based on God’s objective truth about my eternity. It’s way more concrete than feelings or emotions, which almost led me to end my own life three times. I trust God’s promises.

I’m aware, rational, logical, and concrete.

I don’t follow whatever feels good.

I sacrificed my immediate gratification to pay off my Prius 17.5 months earlier! I saved a lot of money because I let God speak to me and work in me, so He changed me. The picture on the cover of this blog shows my excitement when I received the car title in the mail. My car payment became zero. It was a blessing.

I try my best to stand on God’s 3573 promises and honor His commands for my behavior and character. Of course, I fail often but I get up and try again. I love my life now. I give thought to my steps. There’s no drama. I love my peace and joy. I love God.

What about you? 

If you are in Christ, the gift of wisdom and prudence is already yours. When you accepted Jesus as your lord and savior, you were crowned with knowledge. Do you believe that you have God’s wisdom? Do you believe that you are prudent and not a “foolish mocker?” If you do, memorize the Biblical affirmation below and practice it regularly to remember that you have God’s prudence and His discernment.

“I Am Prudent” Affirmation

I am Prudent #52Devotionals

I'm prudent and show a keen mental discernment.
My conduct is in accordance with God’s word determined.
I'm careful, reasonable, certain, and decreed.
I'm aware, rational, logical, and concrete.

“Whoever Brings Blessing Will be Enriched” Proverbs 11:25

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