A topic that has been on my mind lately is that of experience. How important is experience? Many times employers will ignore a candidate with a degree and hire a person with ten years of life experience because, so the thought goes, ten years of doing something is worth way more than three or four years of learning about something. When it comes to trades and careers, that is usually the case. My question is, does this cross over into the Christian life?
There are many things I've learned that I feel like I learned from experience. These are life lessons that I have learned from the many mistakes that I have made. The question must be then, is that the best or the only way to learn life lessons? Personally, I think not.
The Bible says that the beginning of wisdom, the very crucial foundation of wisdom, is the fear of the God (Proverbs 1:7). In other words, acknowledging who God is and accepting what He says about life is the necessary first step towards wisdom. Man says that wisdom comes only from experience. Certainly experience plays a role, but there are many old fools, so it's clear that experience itself is not a guarantor of wisdom. Wisdom requires not only living through situations, but learning from those lessons.
More importantly, God's Word and a relationship with God are necessary for wisdom. Learning things the hard way requires time and pain. God pleads with us to learn from His Word instead. He begs us to trust His view of life. He offers to us a path to wisdom that does not require us causing ourselves and others pain along the way. Our worldview (our view of all things, which influences how we process and react to information and situations) is developed as we age. Hopefully it becomes more mature and in line with God's worldview, which is set forth in Scripture.
What am I saying? I'm saying that learning things that hard way--stubbornly refusing to accept God's commands at face value--dishonors God. It is a form of disbelief. I'm saying that Titus and Timothy, young men, were able leaders, even of men years their seniors, because their worldviews were shaped by the wisdom of the Scriptures. Age plus God's Word equals unrivaled wisdom. Age plus the world's philosophy often merely hardens and embitters. Certainly non-Christians can and have developed experiential knowledge. They can be conditioned as to the way the world "works". They can tell you what happens when you do dumb things. They have the foresight to warn young people about taking the wrong path. That is not true wisdom. Wisdom is applying God's principles to the situations of life. That requires a knowledge of and faith in the things of God.
If you father warns you about "that girl" or "that job", and you heed his warnings, you have been wise, and you have not had to learn through painful, God-dishonoring "phases" or periods of rebellion. God has given us His Word, in part, to direct in the paths of righteousness. God's commands are not meant to suffocate us and keep us from having fun, but to keep us from having to learn the hard way, and then being forced to live the rest of our lives with the consequences--emotional, physical, and spiritual--of our sin, even our forgiven sin.
Age is not equivalent to wisdom. We should heed God's warnings and avoid destructive lifestyles. That is true wisdom, and young men and women can demonstrate this wisdom as surely as their elders can, if only they will attend to the instructions of their Father.
There are many things I've learned that I feel like I learned from experience. These are life lessons that I have learned from the many mistakes that I have made. The question must be then, is that the best or the only way to learn life lessons? Personally, I think not.
The Bible says that the beginning of wisdom, the very crucial foundation of wisdom, is the fear of the God (Proverbs 1:7). In other words, acknowledging who God is and accepting what He says about life is the necessary first step towards wisdom. Man says that wisdom comes only from experience. Certainly experience plays a role, but there are many old fools, so it's clear that experience itself is not a guarantor of wisdom. Wisdom requires not only living through situations, but learning from those lessons.
More importantly, God's Word and a relationship with God are necessary for wisdom. Learning things the hard way requires time and pain. God pleads with us to learn from His Word instead. He begs us to trust His view of life. He offers to us a path to wisdom that does not require us causing ourselves and others pain along the way. Our worldview (our view of all things, which influences how we process and react to information and situations) is developed as we age. Hopefully it becomes more mature and in line with God's worldview, which is set forth in Scripture.
What am I saying? I'm saying that learning things that hard way--stubbornly refusing to accept God's commands at face value--dishonors God. It is a form of disbelief. I'm saying that Titus and Timothy, young men, were able leaders, even of men years their seniors, because their worldviews were shaped by the wisdom of the Scriptures. Age plus God's Word equals unrivaled wisdom. Age plus the world's philosophy often merely hardens and embitters. Certainly non-Christians can and have developed experiential knowledge. They can be conditioned as to the way the world "works". They can tell you what happens when you do dumb things. They have the foresight to warn young people about taking the wrong path. That is not true wisdom. Wisdom is applying God's principles to the situations of life. That requires a knowledge of and faith in the things of God.
If you father warns you about "that girl" or "that job", and you heed his warnings, you have been wise, and you have not had to learn through painful, God-dishonoring "phases" or periods of rebellion. God has given us His Word, in part, to direct in the paths of righteousness. God's commands are not meant to suffocate us and keep us from having fun, but to keep us from having to learn the hard way, and then being forced to live the rest of our lives with the consequences--emotional, physical, and spiritual--of our sin, even our forgiven sin.
Age is not equivalent to wisdom. We should heed God's warnings and avoid destructive lifestyles. That is true wisdom, and young men and women can demonstrate this wisdom as surely as their elders can, if only they will attend to the instructions of their Father.
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