Many plans are in a man’s mind, But it is the LORD’S purpose for him that will stand (be carried out). Proverbs 19:21

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG

Trust in and rely confidently on the LORD with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

 
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]. AMP

Commit your works to the LORD [submit and trust them to Him], And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance].

Put God in charge of your work,
then what you’ve planned will take place.

And don’t keep wanting more and more for yourself, which is the same as worshiping a false god (idolatry). Colossians 3:5 ERV

Galatians 6:4-5
The Message
4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
2 Corinthians 10:12

New King James Version
Limits of Paul’s Authority
12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

2 Timothy 2:15-18
The Message
14-18 Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul.

 
Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

Love is the greatest

Romans 13 KJV

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

James 1:23-25

The Message

22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.


22Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. 23For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, 24and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

He must become greater; I must become less.
For when I am weak, then am I strong.
"My strength is made perfect in weakness"

striving for self or striving for His purpose.

all will fade, only His will last

Certainly it is better be doing than excusing. Doing is safe, but excuses are but a patch upon a sore place.

Thus saith the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches. but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

The Message of the Cross

18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”b

20Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

22Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,c 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom,d and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Wisdom from God

26Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast in His presence.

30It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

On the Insufficiency of Human Wisdom, Power, and Riches
E. Edwards.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Thus said the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might…

I. THE PROHIBITIONS CONTAINED IN THE TEXT.

1. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom." Men may be wise in their own conceit, — they may be wise and prudent in the opinion of others, — their measures and counsels may be, apparently, wisely devised; yet God can and frequently does frustrate their counsels, and turn the wisdom of man into foolishness.

2. "Neither let the mighty man glory in his might." What is man, the strongest man, but dust, turned into dust, crushed by the mighty power of God, as a moth is crushed between the fingers? Just consider upon how little the life of the strongest man depends, — on so trifling a thing as the respiration of a little air; that being stopped, he dies. Nor is the combined power of the many, able to stand at all against the will and the power of God.

3. "Let not the rich man glory in his riches." To hear men talk of their thousands, and to observe them pursuing wealth, one might suppose that riches bestowed every happiness and produced every safety. Yet ask the rich man if he is happy; and he will answer, if he honestly answer, "No." Is he free from the fear of evil? can he bribe death and prolong his short life? can he redeem his soul from hell?

4. It is not only folly to glory in or boast of wisdom, strength, and riches; but it is also sinful; it is idolatry; it is setting aside the Lord God as our strength and our portion.

II. THE COMMAND IN THE TEXT. "But let him that glorieth, glory in this," etc. That man alone is truly wise in whose heart the knowledge of the Lord is treasured up; and who reduces that knowledge to practice; and that man alone is truly blessed who so far understands and knows the Lord, as to put his trust at all times in the Lord God of Israel. This knowledge and understanding of the Lord God in all His adorable perfections, as revealed in His holy Word, and as He is reconciled in Christ Jesus, are of immensely greater value than all the wisdom, and all the power, and all the riches which this world can bestow.

1. The Lord exerciseth loving kindness in the earth. They who through faith in Christ have Jehovah for their Father, — their portion, — have all that can satisfy an immortal soul throughout eternity. Of His loving kindness they have experience; and their experience teaches them that God's "loving kindness is better than life," and therefore their lips praise Him.

2. The Lord also exerciseth judgment in the earth. While He delights in visiting the humble soul, and the penitent soul, and the believing soul, with tokens of His loving kindness, He also visits the impenitent, the unbelieving, the proud, with His sore judgments: and sometimes in this world He makes them lasting monuments of His awful justice.

3. The Lord also exerciseth righteousness in the earth. For the exercise of righteousness, the Lord's omniscience, hatred of sin, love of holiness, power, and faithfulness, fully qualify Him.Conclusion —

1. To those who trust and glory in human wisdom, strength, and riches. Know we not that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God"? and "that power belongeth unto God"?

2. To those who in some measure know the Lord and glory in Him. Your knowledge is still but small and imperfect: for, "how little a portion is heard of Him! but the thunder of His power who can understand?" Still, enough of Him and of His ways may be known here for every necessary purpose. Walk "as children of light." Seek also an increase of light by studying the Word of God; by earnest and diligent prayer, that the Spirit of truth may open your mind to behold, to comprehend more and more, the truths which are revealed in that Word.

(E. Edwards.)

Urgency of Self-Examination

C. H. Spurgeon.
Galatians 6:4
But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
Remember that the time you have for self-examination is, after all, very short. Soon thou wilt know the great secret. I may not say words rough enough to rend off the mask which thou hast now upon thee; but there is one called Death who will stand no compliment. You may masquerade it out to-day in the dress of a saint; but Death will soon strip you, and you must stand before the judgment-seat after Death has discovered you in all your nakedness, be that naked innocence or naked guilt.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)