The Wise Are Well-Advised

By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom. Prov. 13:10

It is no newsflash that pride precedes destruction (Prov. 16:18). Solomon notes that the prideful refuse to listen to good advice. Savvy suggestions offered by the wise to the fool fall on deaf ears and become an occasion for contention. The shield of self-defense goes up with the words “I know best,” “you can't tell me what to do,” or “you just don't understand.” And unless the adviser is also wise enough to offer a soft, kind reply to diffuse the other's anger, then fireworks are likely to follow, as well as the hard times that come by learning “the hard way.”

Then there are others. They are “well-advised” because they listen to wise words. “The words of the wise are like goads” (Eccl. 12:11). A goad would prick an ox who wandered off course as he plowed the field. It was momentarily painful, but it caused no serious wound and was effective to keep the ox in the way he should go. Similarly Solomon said, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6). Those who will listen to wise advice which momentarily pricks their own opinion, plan, or conscience will avoid the deeper and more painful wounds that result from poor decisions. Thus being “well-advised” they gain wisdom that guides them in the way. 

So apply your heart to understanding (Prov. 2:2). “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise” (Prov. 12:15).

That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 1:9

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