Ladies~ a truly wise person is teachable and because she is teachable, she is wise. Proverbs 9:9 “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.” Here Wisdom teaches us in poetic ‘echo’ fashion, repeating the same truth twice, for extra effect. Give instruction [teach], wise man [righteous man], and he will be still wiser [he will increase in learning]. The obvious lesson here is that one of the indications of a truly wise person is that he is teachable and because he is teachable, he is wise. Wise people are wise because they are humble before God and teachable. They are unassuming enough to know that they need to be instructed. They continually press forward. “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance” (Pro. 1:5). Sometimes it is hard to learn from certain people. There are those whose testimonies are not godly, those that live hypocritical lives, those who do not really know what they are talking about, those who are simply trying to bring us down, those who know less than perhaps we think that we know on a given subject, and those who really don’t care about us. There are those who approach us with a beam in their own eye, those who misjudge us, those who are assertive and harsh in their approach, those who flatter us and avoid the truths that we need to hear, and those that seem to be trying to control or boss our lives. Often husbands and wives find it hardest to learn from one another because they feel threatened by the familiarity that they share in every little thing. Teens feel hindered by the generation gap and don’t like to learn old-school things from ‘old fogies.’ Siblings won’t receive instruction from each other due to the equality that they share. Sometimes parents will not learn from their own children because they feel that this would make them vulnerable and appear to be weak. Women won’t learn from other women because women can sometimes tend be petty and besides, “Who does she think that she is anyway!?” Wise people will learn from all of the above. Don’t get me wrong- they do not simply follow what every single person tells them, but rather they take what comes their way and sift it through the Word of God, they examine the conversation and draw what is true and needful so as to better themselves because of it. They strive hard to look beyond the person and their approach and see what God, in His providence, has for them in each situation. A wise person understands that God can use people with unjust motives to help us learn a good lesson. If we filter everything through our own minds eye, and only view things as relating to us personally, and if we don’t get past the fact that everything isn’t about us, we will continually live a threatened life that feels the unquenchable urge to defend self at any cost. This attitude is unteachable and unwise. Love of self is what makes us spurn instruction and it is pride that blocks out true wisdom. King David was a wise man who was willing to learn from even a woman. Back then, it was life-threatening for a woman to approach a man, let alone a ruler and let alone the King of Israel. Yet, godly Abigail, risked her own life when she approached David to warn him of a foolish decision he was about to make. She came with humility, she came with reverence, yet she came with instruction. He was about to kill many people for the foolish sins of one man, Abigail’s evil husband, Nabal. David was a man, a mighty ruler, the king of Israel, and he didn’t even know Abigail at this point. She came to plead with him to change his mind. Don’t forget that all of the other men of war that were with David would have witnessed this encounter with Abigail as well. David had power to disregard and even kill Abigail without even hearing why she came. But David humbled himself and listened to her. What was his response to her instruction? “And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from avenging myself with my own hand!” (1Sam. 25:32-33). David, a man after God’s own heart, in humility, saw beyond the person of Abigail, and received her counsel as God’s instrument in giving him wisdom. “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor” (Pro. 15:31-33). “Let the righteous man strike me- it is a kindness; let him rebuke me- it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it” (Ps. 141:5). Moses, another prominent and wise leader, received instruction from his father-in-law, Jethro. Moses, God’s chosen leader of Israel, was trying to judge the people that came to him from morning till evening, and in short, Jethro said, “Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you!” (Ex. 18:19) He advised Moses to set other godly men to judge them and only send the hardest cases to Moses, because this was too heavy for one man. Here, Moses, the mighty judge of Israel, the man that everyone came to for counsel, had someone approach him with a better idea. Was Moses threatened did he turn to jealousy and all its drama? Did Moses strive thereafter to prove Jethro wrong and that he could indeed handle things just fine without his counsel? Did Moses start reminding him of just who he was? No, Moses was meek and heeded this wise counsel, and indeed became wiser because of it. “So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said” (Ex. 18:24). * There are times when either well or ill meaning people will try to instruct us and we should not always take the counsel offered us. Bathsheba, Solomon’s own mother, tried to counsel Solomon and Solomon through godly wisdom, would not grant her request (1Ki 2). We need to sift all that comes our way through the Word of God, if anything proves to be God’s will fine, we should study to be sure, and if so - submit to it, no matter what package it comes in. If it is not God’s will and not conducive to sound doctrine and righteousness, we should, in wisdom, avoid it. Let me just interject here that we are not obliged, as Christians, to accept or receive advice, counsel, or instruction from just anyone. There are many scriptures that tell us to avoid and reject the evil influence of certain types of people, and here are just a few of them: Wicked, sinners, and scoffers- “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2). False teachers- “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naïve” (Rom. 16:17-18). “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works” (2 Jhn. 10-11). We need to be very careful who and what we learn from, yet all the while fully aware that no one is so wise that they don’t need to learn more. No one is beyond improvement. No one is all wise. We should be humble in our receiving as well as our giving of instruction. Pride distracts us from seeing clearly and hinders our advancement in godliness. Don’t ever resent improving and gaining instruction - even if it comes in the form of criticism. Criticism hurts because it can be embarrassing and because we want everyone to love, appreciate, respect, and think well of us… we all want that. However criticism, taken rightly and learned from, builds character that makes for godliness and humility before God. We need to trust Him with our reputation and seek first His righteousness. Wise people are grateful for those who care to keep them godly. Wise people care mostly what God thinks of them. They are thankful to have their shortcomings, character flaws, and sins exposed so that they can get these things, that are an offence to God, right in their lives. “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Pro. 27:5-6). “Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue” (Pro. 28:23). My book - Womanof Virtue – applying Proverbs 31 to the Twenty-First-Century Woman” isavailable at Christian Book Distributors (CBD). You can order here .... christianbook/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=susan+brackley&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:22:01 +0000