My older brother Steve whooped on me on a regular basis. He was bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, and better than me in everything! We would play football, baseball, or a form of these from sun-up to sunset in the summer; and during the school year, from the final bell of class until the sun was long gone. Steve always beat me until he saw I was about to quit, then he would let me win so he could keep playing.

I fantasized of what it would be like to have Steve’s skills and size, but knew it was a waste of time. Fantasy got me nowhere. Steve was so good that I never really beat him for years. I gave it all I could but to no avail. But I kept coming back . . . kept working.

While growing up, I had friends who would talk big. Away from the field they would talk endlessly about how good they were, but didn’t work at all. It drove me crazy. When they played, they rarely performed to the level they bragged about. That’s what the second half of Proverbs 14:23 is about. Talk doesn’t gain anything. Talk gets no results.

On this side of heaven there are only a few things we can control, and our effort is one of them. We need to quit bragging and start working. If we take this proverb at its base truth, we will profit! Of course, we still might not beat our big brothers!