Work Smarter Not Harder
I don’t like being told I’m wrong.
No, let me rephrase that: I really don’t like it.
And, unfortunately, it’s a trait I seem to have passed down to my children.
Case in point: the other day, my son was in our backyard doing some chores.Keep in mind, he was already in a bad mood. It was a Saturday morning, and he would have rather have been ANYWHERE besides helping my husband and I with yard work (namely, playing video games with his friends). BUT, foul attitude or not, he was still tasked with clearing leaves from the area around our garden.
I happened to notice that, instead of gathering the leaves into piles, putting the lawn debris bag next to it, and then throwing the leaves easily into the bag, he was leaving the bag in one spot, then picking up handfuls of leaves, walking them over to the bag, and putting them in. When I offered up a way to make his task easier, did he thank me or take up the advice?
Of course not. He’s a teenage boy.
He snapped at me and continued doing it his own way.
My daughter, on the other hand, charged with the same task on the opposite side of the yard, took my advice….and was finished in half the time.
Which only made my son angrier.
But, rather than changing tactics, he still stuck to his guns. By the time he was finished, he had wasted half the day with a chore that should have taken him no more than an hour.
All because he would not accept my advice.
I tell this story not to shame my son. Not even to give a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink to all the parents out there going through a similar stage of life (okay, maybe a little bit of that one). Rather, I tell it because it speaks volumes about the nature of sin–not just in my son’s heart but in my own.
And I’m guessing in yours, too.
Proverbs 9:6 says, “Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke the wise, and he will love you.”
You see, true wisdom–the wisdom that comes from God–has much more to do with attitude than it does with intelligence. A wise person is open to correction and advice, while a fool responds in rejection and anger to anyone who tries to offer him some.
That’s not to say you should accept and implement every piece of advice given to you. Discernment–especially that gifted by the Holy Spirit–plays an important role in determining whether or not the council you are receiving is sound. But part of wisdom is allowing room in your life FOR discernment; hardening your heart against any kind of correction or guidance is not only the hallmark of a fool—it’s a sure sign of sinful pride.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7).
If the council we are receiving is Godly–meaning it comes from a place of love and a place of truth–and we reject it outright without using our skills of discernment, we are, in a sense, saying that we know better than God. We are not living our lives in a place of “fear” of him. (And no, that doesn’t mean cowering–it means living in awed reverence, recognizing who He is…and who we are in relation to Him). Rather, we are living our lives trying to replace Him.
Trying to be Him.
And, the Bible plainly states, that makes us fools.
So, while correction, discipline, and council aren’t always fun–in fact, they can be downright painful or embarrassing–may our hearts never be so closed off to miss the wisdom of the Lord when it comes our way. Instead, let’s be actively searching for it, listening for it, and–if it is God’s will–giving it in obedience.
Attitude matters more than intelligence.
May yours–and mine–always be humble.
