Proverbs 15: 22, 31 – 32 (NLT)
22 Plans go wrong for lack of advice;
many advisers bring success.
31 If you listen to constructive criticism,
you will be at home among the wise.
32 If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself;
but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.
Do you have a child who doesn’t like to listen to you? When you try to show them how to do something, do they push you away and keep on doing the same frustrating thing? I have so many memories of my kids doing just that. “I can do it”, they would say as they obviously couldn’t. And I’ll admit, I sometimes walked away and let them wallow in their mess until they finally came and asked for help. You want to encourage independence in your kids, but sometimes you wish they would just listen. But I also realized that sometimes they needed to fail to learn their lesson.
Do you know an adult who doesn’t like listening to advice? Does that person experience a lot of success in life, or does he/she tend to make a lot of mistakes? It breaks my heart to see some people make the same mistakes over and over again. They choose the wrong partner, or they don’t seem to realize that quick decisions are not always the best ones. They seem to spend more time fixing mistakes than enjoying the results of wise decisions.
God tells us that wise people seek advice, but not only do they seek advice, they accept constructive criticism. Now that’s hard. When someone tells me that my plans might not work or be the best plans, I start to defend my point of view. To be honest, I think we all have a tendency to do that. But listening to others’ views of our ideas is so helpful. It doesn’t mean we have to take every bit of their advice, but listening can definitely clarify our own ideas. Sometimes that advice shows us our weak spots, but sometimes that advice also show us strengths we weren’t aware of. Being open instead of protective of our position helps us “grow in understanding”, “brings us success”, and helps us be “at home with the wise”. You can’t get much better than that.
Our song for today is Word of God Speak by MercyMe.