Day 48, Year 1

Humbly Listen to Wisdom

“When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2 NASB)

The word “humble,” tsanua in Hebrew, also means “to be humble, lowly, or modest.” Today’s verse states that humility is an attitude opposite to pride. Sooner or later, pride inevitably leads to dishonor or shame. Yesterday we talked about inclining our ears to wisdom. But you might ask, “Why can’t I learn wisdom even though I’m already making my ears attentive?”

Today’s verse implies that without humility there is no wisdom.

The main message of today’s verse is that those who become lowly will have wisdom. And the assumption behind it suggests that we could choose to be proud or humble. That is to say, a normal, even noble person, must make himself or herself lowly so as to gain godly wisdom. There are many ways for people to exalt themselves, including flaunting their background, nobility of family, wealth, knowledgeability, various achievements, or even comparing themselves to those worse off. As a result, they become proud easily. Conversely, believers have to abandon everything that makes us proud, including the mindset of comparison with others, so that we can humble ourselves before God and receive His wisdom.

Some might think that lowering ourselves to gain wisdom is just another form of hypocrisy. But it is not. In fact, everyone, except for the Lord Jesus, is inferior before God’s wisdom, even if we do not fully realize our own foolishness. Therefore, on the path to pursuing God’s wisdom, every believer should be humble with an open heart and mind. In reality, subordinates are often the ones who are taught, and humble people are also the ones teachable before God. Besides, inclining our ears to wisdom might also mean talking less on our behalf and listening more to wisdom. Perhaps some fools are constantly speaking nonsense to you. Sometimes, you need to stop them from speaking to you so that you can have room to pray to God, and thus receive the words of wisdom. So, humble people are not weak and placating, nor are we at the mercy of others. We are those who overcome all obstacles and are determined to always pursue godly wisdom. Actually, humble people tend to maintain a low profile in interpersonal relationships, but they can also be quite strong and forceful at times.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you always choose to be humble before God’s wisdom?

2) Are you determined to overcome all obstacles to pursue God’s wisdom? Are you assertive before people for pursuing wisdom if needed?