Don't be a fool

Read this: Proverbs 12:15

"Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others."

Think about it:

Raise your hand if you've ever been a fool before.

If you could see me, you would see that I have both of my hands raised high.

What do you think this passage of scripture is saying?

For me, it's saying that I AM NOT ALWAYS RIGHT.

(Whew! That was hard for me to type ... and I sort of hope Mathew doesn't read this ... hehe.)

Isn't it hard sometimes to listen to other people's opinions? Or other people's suggestions?

Have you ever had that happen to you before? ... someone who cares for you, like a parent, a guardian, a teacher or an authority figure ... tells you that you're doing something or handling something the wrong way?

I have and sometimes when it happens I usally have the wrong response. Instead of listening I start getting defensive and start telling that person they're wrong. 

"You don't know what you're talking about." "You don't know him/her like I do." "You've never been through this before." "You don't really know what I'm going through." "If you were going through this, you'd act the same way." And the excuses go on.

Think for a minute about a time you responded in a defensive way instead of listening to someone's wisdom. How did you respond? Did you listen and take their wisdom to heart or did you brush off their words as meaningless?

When I was in high school I liked this guy and he liked me. Or so he said.

He told me I was beautiful. He told me I was the best thing that ever happened to him. He told me he would do anything for me. He told me we should be together forever.

And when someone tells you things like that you believe them. 

And while I believed him for a very long time, my mother kept telling me that the guy only said those things because he wanted to be intimate with me.

She told me over and over again that I deserved better and that his words didn't match up with his actions.

I told her she didn't know what she was talking about. I told her she didn't know him like I did. I told her she's never loved anyone like I loved him. I told her she didn't really know how I felt. And I told her if she loved someone as much as I loved him she wouldn't be saying what she was saying.

Instead of listening to my mother's wisdom, I was foolish and thought I was right. I was foolish not to believe that my mother would know what was best for me even though she had dated guys before and knew what type of guys I shouldn't be interested in.

She knew that this guy would hurt me, so she tried to protect me.

But like I said, I didn't listen. And I got hurt and it hurt BAD.

Sometimes I think back on that time and wish I would have listened to my mother.

So here's what I'm saying to you ... listen to those who are older and wiser than you. Don't always think that you're way is the only way.

Pray about it: Pray that God would show you when you are right and when you are wrong. Ask him to help you trust those who love you dearly and want what's best for you. God gives us a conscience to know right from wrong, but he also puts certain people in our lives to help guide us along the way. So pray that God would reveal those people to you and that you would listen to their wisdom.

Live it: Today ... be wise and don't be foolish :)