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Proverbs 18:13 – Answering Machine (June 7)
Hello and thanks for joining in on to today’s daily devotion. Today is Tuesday. June 7th. The 3rd day of the Hebraic week.
Our verse today is Proverbs 18:13.
He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.
Looking into a matter takes time and not everyone wants to take that time. They’d rather go with the information that they have been brought up to learn or assume and reply with that given knowledge. We’ve all been there a time or two or three or four or… Well, you get the picture. We’ve all been there more often than we’d like to admit. We answered automatically just because we “knew” the answer.
But sometimes that’s what can keep us where we’re at. We may be quick to say “I may have been taught or believed wrong here or here, but I’m drawing the line with this.” All the while if we just dug a little deeper, we may actually find something new that could change our mind on this other topic as well.
The problem is that none of us wants to be wrong. Or maybe I should rephrase that. The problem is that none of us wants to admit that we are wrong.
I recently heard a phrase that made me chuckle. It was “Folks don’t want to feel ignorant but they don’t seem to mind actually being ignorant.” Let me say that again. “Folks don’t want to feel ignorant but they don’t seem to mind actually being ignorant.” In other words, they’d rather be wrong than be shown they’re wrong. Are you willing to be wrong? Are you willing to do the needed research?
He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.
Do you answer automatically? Or do you listen to all of the other side first?
Let this be a focus in your time of meditation throughout the day. Until tomorrow, shalom!
