"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."
Proverbs 18:12-13
In reading these two verses today, I was struck by how well they go together. Humility is necessary to listening well and not just rushing to judgment. Avoiding destruction and seeking honor are good motivations, but I think humility is also essential for the realization that each situation could be different, and working to keep an open mind and remain unbiased. Too often, we think that we already know the answers before we even start exploring the ideas, or conferring with others. When we start out with a pre-closed mind like that, it's going to take some high drama to get us to realize that things aren't exactly the way that we expect them to be, and then even if we do realize it, we sometimes double-down on the error because we don't want to admit that we were wrong or be embarrassed.
Today, let's work on letting go of our pride and haughtiness. Let's work on being humble. It's super hard sometimes to let go of wanting to be right, of not being willing to let others see us as less than perfect... but it is a good step towards honesty, humility, and the ability to see reality rather than pride-distorted and heavily redacted "based on a true story" fictional accounts of what we would rather believe. Let's listen, and refrain from prejudging. And then perhaps we can avoid some destruction, folly, and shame, and maybe even find some honor and other good things. :)
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."
Proverbs 18:12-13
In reading these two verses today, I was struck by how well they go together. Humility is necessary to listening well and not just rushing to judgment. Avoiding destruction and seeking honor are good motivations, but I think humility is also essential for the realization that each situation could be different, and working to keep an open mind and remain unbiased. Too often, we think that we already know the answers before we even start exploring the ideas, or conferring with others. When we start out with a pre-closed mind like that, it's going to take some high drama to get us to realize that things aren't exactly the way that we expect them to be, and then even if we do realize it, we sometimes double-down on the error because we don't want to admit that we were wrong or be embarrassed.
Today, let's work on letting go of our pride and haughtiness. Let's work on being humble. It's super hard sometimes to let go of wanting to be right, of not being willing to let others see us as less than perfect... but it is a good step towards honesty, humility, and the ability to see reality rather than pride-distorted and heavily redacted "based on a true story" fictional accounts of what we would rather believe. Let's listen, and refrain from prejudging. And then perhaps we can avoid some destruction, folly, and shame, and maybe even find some honor and other good things. :)
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