The following are a few passages from the book of Proverbs. These nuggets of truth help us to understand how to avoid stupidity and gain beneficial God-honoring wisdom in life.
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. To fear God means recognizing that God is the one true authority in life. It is from the insight that comes from applying Biblical truth that we experience helpful wisdom. Deception is promoted by anyone who denies the sovereign authority of the Lord over all the earth by rejecting His truth as irrelevant and misguided.
Proverbs 9:8–9 8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. 9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. Fools governed by the man-centered spirit of the age mock those devoted to Biblical wisdom. God-honoring, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-empowered people long to continually increase their understanding and practice of Biblical truths and principles.
Proverbs 10:8 The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. Fools continually talk, seldom learn, and usually make a mess of things. Wise people know they need to grow in the knowledge and application of the Lord’s will and ways.
Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored. The authority of Christ is practical, fruitfully guiding those who obey it through all of life. People who go their own way, refusing to learn and apply Biblical truth are clueless and eventually wreck their lives.
Proverbs 25:12 Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. People who know and obey the Lord possess valuable insight. The correction they offer is to be treasured.
Proverbs 27:5–6 5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. People who will only tell others what they want to hear don’t care one whit about them. Those who have true love will share correction even if it is hard to do.
You may think that people who tell you what you want to hear are good friends, but their compromise of truth and righteousness reveals that they don’t care about you at all. You will be far better off finding Christ-centered people who love you enough to instruct and confront you with Biblical truth. You will be a much better friend by caring enough about others to tell them what God wants them to know rather than what strokes their ego.
May God help us all to walk in God-honoring humility, teachableness, and wisdom!
