Wisdom is “Teachable”

Ever meet a “know it all”?  The funny thing about “know it all’s” is that it is pretty clear, pretty soon, that they don’t know it all.  I find it interesting that a wise man is not presented in God’s word as a “know it all”, rather he is presented as a “need to know it more” kind of person.  Let’s read Proverbs 9:7-9: 

“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.  8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.  9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

In my experience a scoffer, someone who is not living in wisdom, seldom takes rebuke well.  You would think that the opposite would be true.  You would think that someone who has a very messed up life would welcome the opportunity to change that life and change the way he/she thinks and acts.  But that is not often the case.  That’s exactly what we read here in proverbs.  When we attempt to correct a scoffer, we get shame for ourselves.  Somehow, someway, our attempts to help are often portrayed as unhelpful and us as unloving and uncaring.

However, the wise man is said to respond well to rebuke.  A wise man knows that he is going to be wrong at times.  A wise man knows that he doesn’t “know it all”.  A wise man receives instruction.  He is teachable.  In fact, in regard to spiritual wisdom, the more a person knows, the more he knows that he doesn’t know.  The more we know about God, the more we realize that there is so much more to know about God.  Wise men love to be corrected…wisdom is definitely teachable.

In wisdom,
Eric