Young Men and Wisdom – Lessons from Proverbs

Over the last few months, I’ve been trying to work on myself so that I can be a better husband and prepare myself for fatherhood. As such, I picked up a book called Thoughts for Young Men by 19th century pastor J.C. Ryle. The lessons taught here are so timeless that I forgot it was written over a hundred years ago. Here is a quote that really stood out to me:
“The older you grow and the more you see, the less you will find reason for being proud. Ignorance and inexperience are the pedestal of pride. Once the pedestal is removed, pride will soon come down.”
Upon reading this, I realized that pride tends to come from ignorance and inexperience, and that was certainly the case for me as I transitioned from college into my first ministry role at a church in Lexington. I went in there thinking, “I’m gonna win so many people to Christ. We’re gonna see people getting saved left and right, the altar is gonna be filled every Sunday, I’m gonna be such a gifted youth pastor and worship leader, and I’m gonna turn this church upside down.”  
Needless to say, that is not how things went down. I made countless mistakes, and betrayed the trust of a lot of people.  I found myself having the attitude of Peter, who had good intentions, but would say very bold and ignorant things.
I came to the realization that what young men like me need more than anything today is wisdom, which is the main theme of the book of Proverbs. Unlike the modern idea of wisdom, Old Testament wisdom is not a step-by-step guide on how to have a successful life, but a guide to living a godly, virtuous life and the reaping the benefits of such.
In an age of instant gratification, the need for this kind of wisdom has never been higher. In an age where anyone can grab a microphone and a camera and start a podcast or a YouTube channel and speak as though they have authority over others, OT wisdom has never been more necessary.
Proverbs 3:7 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes.”  
This is a profound message for young men. We think we’re so wise that we can go online and tell other people- even people decades older than us- how they ought to live their lives, what they should be doing, and how they need to be better. Meanwhile, in reality, most of us haven’t gained the wisdom necessary to actually speak from experience.
This is completely backwards from God's design. Instead of arrogance and pride, God calls us to humility. It takes a lot of humility to realize, “Okay, I don’t know everything. I need wise counsel. I need to learn from this person that has lived a lot more life than I have.” This was Solomon’s whole purpose in writing the Proverbs- to teach wisdom to young Israelite men.
Verse 7 gives us another message too, which is to, “fear the Lord and turn away from evil. “If you go back to Proverbs 1:7, it says that the fear of the Lord “is the beginning of knowledge.”
This is the lens through which the entire book of Proverbs is written: we cannot be wise without the fear of the Lord in our hearts.
We can follow every single rule and every piece of advice to a T, but without the fear of the Lord, we will not be wise. We only become wise through the fear of the Lord God revealed in the flesh through His Son, Jesus, who, while we were yet sinners, died for us so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).  

So church, let’s be wise and trust in the Lord as we continue to grow in our faith!
 
To God be the glory,
Bro. Casey