Wisdom is knowing what to do and doing it.
Who is a wise person? Is it someone who has grey hair or old enough to be your grandfather? I think you are wise when you apply knowledge and experiences to your day-to-day living. My trusted source of principles for effective living is the Bible. In the story of the three wise men who visited Jesus Christ at His birth, there are three wise lessons that I learnt from them. (Reference: Matthew 2:1-12). They taught us that every wise person:
Commit Mistakes (Matt. 2:7): Former US President George W. Bush had the best of advisors but when it came to the invasion of Iraq they got it wrong. In his later years as president, he conceded the invasion of Iraq was on false information by his advisors. The president wouldn’t have issued commands without the express counsel by his security advisors. People think wise men do not make mistakes, but the case of Bush’s advisors tells us that wise men make mistakes. The wise men who came to see Jesus committed a huge blunder by seeking the counsel of King Herod. Many of us hear the best of instructions and clear guidelines for living life to the potential, but still rely on other experts to end up being misled. Wise men are not super human beings. As wise as you may be, you are not immune to mistakes.
Communicate With God (Matt. 2:12): The most grievous thing in life is not the mistakes we make but what we do after the mistakes have been committed. Many people never forgive themselves after grave mistakes are committed. Few people really seek expert opinion to rewrite their history. Wise men seek divine guidance in reconstructing their past life. The three wise men heard from God in their dream as to what to do after the mistake had been committed. Be tune to the voice of the supreme wisdom of God and catch His direction for your next move in life.
Learn From Mistakes (Matt. 2:12): I had a friend who used to say that it is a mistake to repeat a mistake. Do you learn from your mistakes? Are you humble enough to see valuable lessons in your mistakes? Once the wise men were advised by God, they did not return to King Herod. They made amends and went their way. The mark of a wise person is their readiness to learn. Be ready to say, “I blow it up the first time but I am ready to correct and move on”. You will never have an opportunity to erase a first mistake. But you will certainly have an opportunity to make new choices to correct the first mistake. If you yearn to be wise, be ready to learn from your mistakes.
Wisdom does not mean the accumulation of knowledge. It means the application of what you know for personal transformation. You can be as old as Methuselah and yet be unwise. If you are truly going to be considered a wise person, then you are not far from making mistakes, you must hear from God, and you must learn from your mistakes.
Get Connected; Stay Connected with Jesus
© 2012 Eric Otchere
Email: eric.otchere@ymail.com
(The author is an infopreneur passionate about
building individual and corporate capacities
through knowledge-based products.)
