Wisdom

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/02/authentic

The Book of Proverbs contains mainly wisdom teaching that stand the passage of time. This means that it was relevant then and still relevant now and will still be relevant in the coming days. But if we were to dwell deeper into Proverbs, we will find that the prevailing and prevalent theme is probably best summed up by this phrase, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”. In the end, the wise man is the man that fears God. In other words, to be wise is to love God. We heed His laws and percepts. We follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We do what our heart tells us to do as we hear and seek Him out. If Christ corrects us, we repent and turn away from the error of our ways.

There is thus a strong case for us to heed the advice of others who made the loving effort to correct us. Few are bothered or will want to risk the friendship to correct another but to those who dared, we must take note. It is not optional. If they dared, we must take heed. We must listen and change. Ultimately it is for our own good. For example, if someone were to advise us not to only think of our own interests when making decisions. We may argue that it is natural and therefore permissable. This is how the world works. No one looks out for others. But if we continue on this road of destruction; one day, we may taste our own medicine and sonetimes that day can be much sooner than later. Even if one does not believe in God, God exists and He is a God of justice. The same way as the existence of God is not dependent on our beliefs, the existence of divine retribution is also not a matter of whether we believe in it or not. So as Stephen Covey taught, always try to find a win-win outcome and not a win-lose consequence, just because we can.

Proverbs 15:31 advises – whoever heeds life giving correction will be at home among the wise. Heed the advice. Don’t laugh at what God says as the pride of life will lead us to destruction. The Lord only advises us because He loves us, because He doesn’t want us to suffer the consequences of our wrongful decisions. Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do.