1 Kings 8:61
61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” ESV
- Later in life Solomon himself would have done well to listen to his own advice. I think most of the time we are fully capable of giving ourselves great advice. If someone else came to us with the same problem we would give them good advice the trick is both in doing, and making your choice before the heat of a moment filled with emotion. 2 Chron 12:14
- What areas are you not taking your own advice? “I know I really should….” “I probably shouldn’t… But” Why is it hard to take your own advice?
- Are you making choices ahead of time or do you wait until emotions are high and you can no longer think straight.
Prov 18:13
He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him. NKJV
Listen before you answer. If you don’t, you are being stupid and insulting. TEV
- I think I have been guilty of answering before I had really finished listening. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Vs 17; James 1:19; Prov 1:5; Rev 3:13; Acts 19:35-38;
I just made this mistake on a first class level. I got a face book message with the title, “my daughter” and a little picture of a baby in a hospital blanket. I didn’t have much time so I didn’t read the post I just sent a message saying congratulations. I thought nothing of it until I received a return message saying: Congratulations???? So then I clicked on the original post to read through it. When the picture was made bigger you could see it was not a new born in fact she was 18 months old. She had just gone to the hospital with a life threatening illness. She was recovering but they were uninsured missionaries and were asking for help to pay the large hospital bills. Needless to say I felt like an idiot. Answering before listening made me look stupid and came off very insulting.
Ps 25:9
9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. NKJV
- God will teach those who will listen. Am I humble enough to listen, to receive correction? God I want to be humble, I want to receive your instruction not defend myself and the reasons I made wrong choices.
- Ps 141:5(correction is a blessing) Prov 1:5 (the wise hear and increase in learning) Prov 16:18 (pride comes before destruction) those who are think they are always right don’t receive correction, they choose to face the consequences of their mistakes before learning, and still they often refuse to change. (Prov 26:11)
Prov 8:33
Hear instruction and be wise, And do not refuse or neglect it. AMP
- One of the fist steps to wisdom is listening. Are you listening? I suppose that the search for wisdom is done mostly with ones mouth shut. We do not learn much while we are talking. We apparently undervalue the ability to ask, wisdom is found in listening to answers.
- Vs 6 & 10, 36; Prov 22:6; 29:26
Proverbs 15:32
32 He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
- Prov 22:6
- If you avoid instruction, and rebuke you rob yourself and your future. You will repeat your folly because you are a fool. Prov 26:11
Prov 29:12
12 If a ruler honors liars, all his advisers will be wicked. NLT
- Your life will attract the people you honor. You will find yourself surrounded by the people you listen to. What kind of people are around you. Are you honoring the right people. If we honor the wrong people the will fill and can ruin our lives.
- Honor Prov 26:8
