Wisdom

 Wisdom

January 9, 2025

Proverbs 9:7-12 (ESV) 

7Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. 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. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Wow! Did Solomon know about social media? So I suppose scoffing is not new, it’s just easier today with social media where you can criticize and scoff at someone anonymously. Too many people hide behind their screen and make cruel comments to people they don’t even know. How sad.

Solomon teaches us that true wisdom is to give instruction to a wise man. Teaching and correcting a wise man increases both of your wisdom and knowledge, whereas trying to correct a wicked man just gets you embroiled in controversy with nothing good accomplished.

 

So what is wisdom? Solomon says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Now this fear is not a Freddy Kroger, Friday the 13th kind of fear, but awesome respect and honor. There was a time when we had the same kind of fear of our parents and teachers, but sadly, our modern age has tried to purge the families and schools from this kind of respect. True fear of authority leads to wisdom and honor, but scoffing and disregard of discipline leads to wickedness. That sort of sums up our current societal situation in a nutshell. We need a revival of fear of the Lord and true wisdom and knowledge. It’s not too late to call on the Lord to give us wisdom and knowledge and to restore our sense of reverent awe for the Lord. So seek the Lord and pray for our families and schools and country that there will be a revival of the fear of the Lord.