The Getting of Wisdom
Proverbs 10:8 The wise accept instruction, but fools argue and bring trouble on themselves.
One of the hardest lessons that any of us ever has to learn is submitting to authority. As kids, we pushed the boundaries with our parents, especially in our teenage years. And it doesn’t end with being a teenager. We have the same problem as adults.
Proverbs 10:8 The wise accept instruction, but fools argue and bring trouble on themselves.
We only have a problem with authority when we disagree with a decision, right? And whilst this idea of submitting to authority seems so old-fashioned; so yesteryear, the ability to humble yourself, to submit and to learn, is in fact, a marque of maturity.
When you think about it, the way we get smarter, is by learning from people who know more than we do; people with greater experience; people who have more wisdom, insight and understanding than we do. People, mostly, who are put in authority over us. And here’s how this thing works: when we accept their instruction and their authority, we grow wise. The way to remain a fool, on the other hand, is to argue, to complain, to rebel … and to bring trouble on yourself.
Will they always get it right? No, but even when they’re wrong, God honours us when we obey those whom He places in authority over us. God teaches us His wisdom, when we honour Him, by subjecting ourselves willingly to the authority of others.
Where exactly did we get this idea that we have to agree with those in authority over us and to learn from them?
The wise accept instruction, but fools argue and bring trouble on themselves.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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