Title: Worse Than a Fool / Topic: Arrogance

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 25; Proverbs 26; Proverbs 27; Romans 15

Scripture: Proverbs 26:4-12
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.
6 Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
7 Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.
9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Observation: According to the Word, a fool is not just someone who is silly or lacking wisdom, they are evil people who have a poor character. The first 2 verses listed are interesting because they seem to be saying exactly the opposite thing from one another. I think the reason these verses are juxtaposed next to each other is to point out that there is no winning an argument or discussion with a fool. He will find a way to ignore any wisdom you try to give him. Some other aspects of a fool's character listed in these verse are that they cannot be counted on, they cannot comprehend wisdom, they are poor workers, they cannot handle honor well, and they stupidly repeat there poor choices and behaviors. After this litany of railings against fools, these verses are capped off by saying there is a kind of person even worse than a fool. That is a person who is wise in his own eyes. Why? A person who is wise in his own eyes cannot be taught by anyone. He values his won opinion over all others and will justify in his mind the value of his own ideas and beliefs over even very well-thought out ideas of others. He cannot learn from anyone else because he is unteachable. The Word makes it clear that there is very little hope for such a person to have a good life. His arrogance will make his life very difficult because he values his own wisdom above that of others and even of God.

Application: How important in view of all this that we check to make sure that we listen carefully and consider what others (especially older Christians who have been through more in life than we have) say to us. God places parents, pastors, teachers and others into our lives to instruct us for the purpose of helping us to avoid making foolish mistakes that we will regret if we do not heed what is said to us. The only thing that others cannot teach us is the attitude of being teachable. That is something we must cultivate in ourselves.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the wisdom of your Word, which instructs us for our own good. May I have the humility to always heed what you say and what others who are wise deposit into my life, even if I don't understand all the "whys" of what is said to me. I know the advice of others has saved me from foolish mistakes many times in my life.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.