Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice (Proverbs 13:10).
Solomon spends a great deal of energy pointing out the folly of pride:
One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth (Proverbs 13:7).
He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded (Proverbs 13:13).
He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored (Proverbs 13:18).
My wife has probably been the best teacher of this lesson: pride is the mask of the ignorant, of the fool who turns his back on understanding. She is one of the most intelligent people I know, but she does not wear her intellect as a cloak of pride. Instead, she is always the first person to admit that she does not understand something and to diligently ask questions of those around her until she understands or has enough information to put it all together at a later date.
This is so different from my own natural instincts in which I follow the mantra "better to be thought the fool than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt". Often in my prideful way, I will assume that if I don't understand something, then I can figure it out later on my own. But, if I don't figure it out, then I continue to live in ignorance while if I had employed my wife's approach I would be the wiser.
And this is no different with my walk with God, though my pride is so much more humorous when in the company of our Creator. Still I find myself behaving as if I've got it all figured out or if I don't then I will surely work it out on my own in good time. But this is fool-hardy: our spiritual character and relationship with our Heavenly Father has been something we as a collective whole have wrestled with for generations upon generations. Who am I to think that I can work this stuff all out. And so I work on my pride. I take conscious effort to open myself up and admit that I struggle with my relationship with God, with my understanding of how I should behave during my waking hours, of what it means to live within the Kingdom, to be alive in life and be saved from death. I admit to being ignorant of the whole story. I am allowing myself to be vulnerable so that I may grow in the Kingdom from the words of the wise around me. I pray for a soft heart and the mouth of wise men.
Peace
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
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1 comment:
This is a very cool passage... Very relevant to all, because EVERYBODY struggles with sin. I think it's very profound to hear about how ride
was Satan's sin, so is essentially the root of all sin for all of us.
But what rang true with me so loudly was the very first one you listed, Proverbs 13:10. I have a circle of work friends who think they know EVERYTHING... In fact they know everything ABOUT everything. :) And I dread being with them because it is next to impossible to be with them without quarrels arising. They don't take advice but are always giving it... I usually say as little as possible when around them because they are those people who WILL NOT AGREE with you. It's so frustrating. The second I say ANYTHING even remotely subjective (and many times even objective), a quarrel ensues. So, I say nothing at all. I just sit silent and eat my lunch.
It's especially frustrating when I look at my dear friends that mean the most to me, my Christian friends, who haven't got it all figured out, but are at least aware that they haven't got it all figured out... People like you or Adam or Aaron D.... People who are far more intelligent than my work friends, but don't act like it.
It makes all the difference in deciding who to spend my time with.
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