Have you ever had a thought pop into your head? One where you are convinced you have made a great connection, solved a problem, figured something out or discovered the next great invention? What happened next?
The answer to that question depends upon several factors – primarily, the amount of wisdom, discernment, experience and humility you possess. Without those safeguards, we would believe every thought or idea we have is automatically correct, factual, and quite likely earth shattering.
Godly wisdom, discernment and humility, give us pause. They encourage us to look for evidence to support or refute our ideas. They make us research and experiment. They leave us with a bit of doubt about the wisdom of our thoughts until we can prove the veracity and value of them to ourselves and others.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a world that values humility. If one is young, one is told his or her ideas are automatically better than those of someone older. If one is well educated, his or her ideas carry more weight than from one who doesn’t have as many degrees – even if he or she is more well read, talented and experienced that the person with the degrees.
Which leaves your kids in a very vulnerable and dangerous place mentally and spiritually. Satan is more than willing to supply lots of “great” ideas that are ungodly, sinful or that will gradually pull your kids away from God. He will encourage your kids – just like he did Adam and Eve – to believe that they are smarter and wiser than anyone – including God.
When your kids don’t think humbly, they will refuse to listen to godly advice. They will refuse to obey God when it means they don’t get to live out their idea of fun and happiness. They will believe their opinions and the ideas of others are actually facts; neglecting to do the vetting that could protect them from false teachings and lies.
Teach your kids to think humbly. To value godly wisdom. To respect godly experience and advice. To obey God’s commands and principles, which are based on God’s wisdom. To fact check everything they read or hear by scripture – regardless of the source.
One of the sayings we pronounced regularly in our house was “You can learn the easy way from the wisdom of God and others or you can learn the hard way by trial and error…and trust us the hard way is much more painful and can come with consequences that will last the rest of your life.” It’s a great concept to teach your kids, too.