do you want to be wise or appear wise?…

there’s another way we can give preference to others. that’s by doing more listening than talking. james 1.19 (niv) says, be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. we get those first two reversed. we are slow to listen, quick to speak.

another practical way you can practice humility is to practice learning from others.

a major component of humility is teachability, being willing to listen and willing to learn, willing to grow, open to suggestions and corrections from other people. you don’t think you know it all. you don’t act like you know it all.

why should you do that? there are two or three really good reasons.

one, you’ll be more likable. the bible says in proverbs 15.12 (tev), conceited people do not like to be corrected. they never ask for advice.

again, pride, at its root, is insecurity. “i’m afraid that i’ll show that i really don’t know much.”

do you enjoy being around arrogant people? of course not. they’re irritating. they’re a pain in the blessed assurance. one of the things humility does is it makes you more likable.

two, you’ll be wiser if you’re open to the correction of other people. proverbs 15.32 (nlt) says, if you reject criticism you only harm yourself. but if you listen to correction you grow in understanding.

humble people are always learning because they’re open to correction. everybody’s ignorant, just on different subjects. you know some things that i don’t know, and i know some things that maybe you don’t know. we all come from different backgrounds.

that’s why two heads are better than one and it’s wise to learn from the experience of others. you don’t have time in life to learn everything from personal experience. the way to do that is by learning to ask questions. the only way to learn to ask questions is if you’re humble, if you’re open.

you’ve got to decide in life whether you want to be wise or appear wise. whether you want to be smart or appear smart. if you want to appear smart, then you can’t ever let on that you don’t know, so you always have to boast your way through situations and you never do really learn anything.

just a thought from the front porch…