BBD 07.14.13 Foolishness and Arrogance (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
14,000 Subscribers
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Classic from 2006
07.14.13
Foolishness and Arrogance
But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate
strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able
to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God
perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that
they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been
taken captive by him to do his will. - 2 Timothy 2:23-26 NKJV.
There is a fact of life and that is that people sometimes
will do foolish even stupid things. Here are a few examples:
Two men had an argument in Syracuse, New York over who it
was that drank the last beer. One of the men ended the argument by robbing the
other. He stole his cell phone, cash, and then, hit his drinking buddy over the
head with a gun. Ronald Zimmerman is now facing several charges, including,
first-degree robbery.
Carriel Louah is suing her parents. She showed up
unexpectedly a couple of years ago at her parent’s home to surprise her mother
on her birthday. Sounds like a nice thing to do, doesn’t it? But, the next
morning Carriel fell on her parent’s icy driveway and broke two ankles. She is
now suing her parents for $75,000 for their failure to properly maintain their
drainage system.
In Jenks, Oklahoma, sadly, a 17-year-old boy has been
killed during a paintball fight between two groups of young men in two
vehicles. The fight does not appear to have been malicious in intent, which
occurred after they left a paintball adventure park - just very tragic. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Pete Norwood said about the accident, "I have seen a lot of horseplay over the past years, but I think this
is the first time I have ever seen somebody playing paintball at 75 mph. The
highway is no place to play."
Some things are obviously foolish in nature and other
things may not appear to be foolish until we look at the eternal consequences.
So many problems between people and within a church arise over little things
and often simply because of miscommunication or misunderstanding. Those
problems escalate until the real business of the church is placed on hold.
Sadly, some arguments, disputes, strife in the church,
and between people outside of the church - occur not because of foolishness but
because of arrogance. When we are involved in an argument or disagreement, we
must be careful to consider our own position. Are you a person that has to
always have your way? Are you always right and everyone else always wrong? Do
you think that everyone else should always have the same view of things and
opinion of things as you do? Do you think that everyone else would do well to
live exactly as you live? If so, it may be that you have a problem with
arrogance.
Arrogance is defined as, "an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in
presumptuous claims or assumptions." Another definition defines someone who is arrogant as being, "unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important than or
know more than, other people."
According to those definitions, Proverbs 28:25
NKJV is talking about an arrogant person when it
says, "He who is of a proud heart stirs up
strife."
Proverbs 13:10 NKJV also indicates that
arrogance causes strife when we are told, "By
pride comes nothing but strife." The apostle
Paul gives a word of wisdom and warning about arrogance when he writes, "Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high
things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion
(Romans 12:16 NKJV)."
A fool is defined as "a
person who behaves in a silly way without thinking." Sometimes there are fools in the church who
unintentionally cause disruption or strife but it is not something that they
planned to do. However, someone who is arrogant is someone who thinks,
considers, contemplates, plans, causes disruption, and strife through their
faulty reasoning. I say faulty because they think they know better than everyone
else, including God, about everything.
What are the solutions for foolishness and arrogance and
therefore a solution for much of the strife that we encounter in life and in
church? Proverbs 16:3
NKJV says, "Commit
your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” Proverb 19:23a NKJV says, "The fear
of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction." We are told in Proverbs
19:20-21 NKJV, "Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be
wise in your latter days. There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless
the Lord’s counsel—that will stand." What
is the solution for foolishness and for arrogance? It is found in a life
committed to the Lord, a life that is continually listening for and seeking the
wisdom that only comes from God.
Copyright © 2006-2013. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
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