“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise” (19:20). The first thing that wise people recognise by their wisdom is the extent of their own ignorance. This causes them to draw on the wisdom and knowledge of others, which makes them wiser as a result. Foolish people, by contrast, are self-assured about their opinions. Foolish people get frustrated by those who can’t see things as simply and plainly as they do. A foolish person’s opinions are always beyond doubt and therefore the fool does not hesitate to pronounce them vociferously. But wise people will never assume that they have all the answers. They will rather assume they do not. They will assume that there are complexities and perspectives that they have not thought of. And they will listen for these perspectives in the instruction of others. The wise always hesitate to pronounce their opinions, and, if they do, they submit them, humbly, as a work in progress. And, when they have shared their opinion, they welcome criticism and consider it respectfully. A wise person eagerly looks for correction in the views of others. Most importantly a wise person is able to say, “I don’t know”. How wonderfully countercultural do these words seem in our age of warring opinions. If this is an age of disinformation it is because it is an age of fools. The wise are avid learners. If you do not have the humility to learn, do not presume to teach. Don’t presume that the world needs your opinions. This world needs wisdom.
Ask God to show you who you need to learn from.
Read Proverbs 19:20-29
