This past week at youth group I spoke on the topic of wisdom compared to the life of a fool. One of the statements I made is that; “we will be known for something in life; we will be known for our foolishness or our wisdom.” The Bible, especially Proverbs, has a lot to say about wisdom and the great benefits for us if we choose to apply it to our life.
Proverbs 12:1 (NLT)
To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.
Proverbs 13:16 (NLT)
Wise people think before they act; fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.
Proverbs 9:6 (NLT)
Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.”
Proverbs 9:10-12 (NLT)
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.
There is a life stage for foolishness, but the Bible is clear that we need to leave behind our foolishness and grow up into wise living. The problem is many of us are not doing a very good job of “growing up”. Physically we are mature but in other areas of our life, we have not developed a life of wisdom. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to see if you are a foolish person or wise:
- Do you struggle between knowing right from wrong?
- Do you follow the crowd rather than being a leader?
- Do you lack real commitments in life? (i.e. you are not a person of your word- your word means nothing – you don’t follow through with what you say you will do).
- Are you confused with what to do in life; with your life?
- You are unsure of God’s plan for your life? We should know what God wants us to do TODAY (the present); we might not know what we will do 10 years from now (if we did know then we wouldn’t need to live by faith).
- Do you conform to other’s standards or morals (on what do you base your moral code; culture or the word of God)?
It will be hard for us to live with wisdom if we do not KNOW the author of wisdom. God has provided us a great way to learn and live a life of wisdom – it is found in the Bible and starts by us learning to apply its teachings to our life. It will be hard at first because it goes against the direction the culture/society is going; nevertheless, the more you practice the easier it gets to live out the principles of wisdom.
If you want to learn more about wisdom then read the Biblical book of Proverbs – try a chapter a day for a month.
