Don’t Trust People Who Tout Their Own Wisdom

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January 26, 2017

Proverbs 26:12

Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.

CONSIDER THIS

One of the hallmarks of wisdom is the way its possession is hidden from its bearer. Said another way: You don’t know it when you have it. If you think you are a wise person, the chances are you aren’t. It takes us back to one of our earlier core convictions about humility being the beginning of wisdom and pride being its antithesis.

So does this mean that one of the marks of a wise person is they think they aren’t wise? No. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking less about oneself.

A person convinced of their own wisdom is not only not wise, but worse off than a fool.

So on the one hand, we are exhorted to seek after wisdom with all we’ve got, yet on the other we are never to consider that we have attained it. That’s an interesting way to live.

One of the properties of true wisdom is it is not conscious of itself. It makes sense then that the one who possesses it is not conscious of possessing it. What if, in fact, we don’t “possess” wisdom? What if wisdom possesses us? Maybe that’s the big deception– that we can somehow “possess” wisdom. All of this would seem to suggest the quest is not to be a wise person but to belong to the Person of Wisdom: Jesus.

Jesus is the Wisdom of God. To the extent that I belong to Jesus, I am possessed by Wisdom.

I’ll see you tomorrow in Proverbs 27.

THE PRAYER

Abba Father, thank you for sending and showing us wisdom in the face of a person, your Son, Jesus Christ. Teach us to seek wisdom not that we may “possess” it but that we might be “possessed” by the person of your Spirit. Shape our mind by the mind of Christ. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Do you know people who are wise in their own eyes? What characterizes them? Why would there be more hope for a fool than them?

2. How might I avoid becoming wise in my own eyes?

3. How can you seek after wisdom without becoming conscious of receiving it? What gives?

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J.D. Walt, is a Bond Slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. jd.walt@seedbed.com.