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Accepting Advice
Accepting Advice
“We are men of action, lies do not become us.” ~Westley from The Princess Bride
Many movies can be identified by single phrases or a few notes from a tune. Lines like, “There’s no place like home,” “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” and the first note sung in the Zulu language in The Lion King immediately bring up thoughts of adventures in colorful worlds, fears from what lurks below the waters, and the hope of a new generation in times when evil abounds. It truly does not take much to convey an idea, and have it stick with us. When was the last time you saw Wizard of Oz, Jaws, or The Lion King?
God instilled in us this ability to quickly pull up short idea and gave us something to fill that ability: the Book of Proverbs; an instructive book which gives us many small phrases which are easily remembered, when there is purpose, so that we may guide our lives forward in God’s will.
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice,” is from Proverbs 12:15. Let us face it, that’s good advice! A few verses down, we are told a similar idea as well in Proverbs 13:1: “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
Sometimes we all need a little correction in our lives. Just as Apollos did in Acts 18:24-28. Apollos was preaching and teaching, but did not have all the information of the new baptism instituted after the resurrection. He was wrong, but the text indicates that his heart was willing to accept the latest information. This is how we should accept rebuke. As proverbs says, “[the] wise man listens to advice.”
We should all be like Apollos, heeding the words of help given by others, but not all are of that inclination. Proverbs 29:11 tells us that, “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (I John 3:12) When we reject that instruction, we allow ourselves to take over our will and are no longer giving it to God.
We should not fall victim to the “sunk cost fallacy.” Sometimes we get invested in something, and do not want to let it go, even when we find it is false or wrong. We have put so much time and effort into this idea or aspect of our lives, that letting it go by heeding the words given to us would mean admitting to wrong and letting go of all that investment without any return, or with a loss. To follow such fallacy makes us a fool as described in Proverbs 15:14: “The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.” They continue to gluttonously feed on their own knowledge and what they want despite that fixation leading to their own destruction.
The little “catch phrases” which can be gleaned from such a book as Proverbs can stick with us. It is possible that Paul used a proverb to help Peter when he opposed him for hypocrisy in Galatians 2:11-14. We should meditate on words like these and let them be on our tongues. Let us pray that phrases like Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding,” are more quickly brought to our lips as anything ever written by man.
Lance Byers
1/11/2024
- Accepting_Advice_1-11-24.pdf (51.17 kB)
