6:1-5 Proverbs cautions us against linking ourselves with people who have philosophies of life that negate or oppose the one God has taught us. This piece of scripture uses the word stranger or "zur" which is not your typical use of stranger. The type of stranger that is mentioned here is the person whose religious or spiritual beliefs are strange/different from God's word.
We are cautioned because while there is difference of opinion in the world, and we will always have friends and family who do believe differently from us, we cannot support harmful doctrines. We should not support corrupt beliefs; and if we find ourselves in a position where we are linked with them, we must humble ourselves and leave it without delay.
6:6-11 Rather than a lazy "sluggard" we are encouraged to be like the tireless ants. Constantly working with motivation toward purpose. Examples of God's instruction can indeed be seen in nature: ants work for the whole as individuals. Instead of sleeping, that is: wasting our lives lazily, we must be motivated to learn and grow and thus store up good wisdom for the times we need it.
For when we have worked hard, we are prepared. And when we are prepared, we are not caught off guard by tumultuous winds or changes in our lives.
6:12-15 Be careful not to live as a worthless person. A worthless person is a wicked person, someone who causes harm or difficultly to others. God does not want us to be lazy, superficial people. He loves us and to Him we have so much worth. But we waste it all when our behavior harms (or neglects to help) others. We waste our opportunity to influence and impact humanity when we live without purpose or good-intention.
6:16-19 Listed here are six things God hates: a proud look; a lying tongue; hands that shed innocent blood; hearts that devise wicked plans; feet that are swift in running to evil; and liars. And God finds it abomination to cause trouble between people. A more in-depth study of this can be found here.
6:20-23 Listen to people who have wisdom through experience; always match their opinion with God's word. If they are in alignment, it is good advice. But we should train ourselves to listen and observe; it is our most valuable learning tool... and lowest likelihood of error. When we keep God's instruction inside of us, we will never be without it, even when life takes us down uncharted paths.
God's instruction is our protection, path, and lighthouse. It encourages us, beckons us and protects us.
6:24-29 We require God's protection against things which tempt us toward them but are no good for us. He helps us to stay away from acting on vain, angry or greedy thoughts. For corrupt thoughts do not always present themselves as bad, and thus we are more likely to act on them. But when we do, we cause immediate or future problems for ourselves. These verses are like the adage: you can't play with fire and expect not to be burned. God's instruction prevents us from even lighting those harmful fires.
6:30-31 We are asked to have compassion on people who steal to stave off starvation. The theme of this proverb is the metaphor of debt caused by false religion or corrupt doctrine so we must apply it to "starvation." If a person comes back to God's word, or comes to it for the first time after a life of false or corrupt behavior, they are starving for His instruction. They (and all people) are required to give seven-fold (that is: everything, our whole selves) to God's philosophy.
We are not meant to despise people who are new in faith and trying to change and leave former behavior. They (we) must give up all of the old, corrupt things and relationships we obtained to build a new, righteous life.
6:32-35 Those who commit adultery (spiritually-speaking) will also bring dishonor on themselves. We are God's children, He has claimed us. God wants us to claim Him as our Father; it is painful for Him when we chose other things as idols because those things do not care for us well or deserve us. They are not the reason we have life, God is.
Nevertheless, those who choose corruption and stay in it will meet inevitable destruction caused by their own choices but ensured by God.
