Ask any group of guys to talk about their biggest mistake, worst investment or greatest regret and you better find a comfortable chair and a good cup of coffee. Every guy has a long list that they sort of mentally carry around and review from time to time and inevitably they’ll say “If only I had known then what I know now…..” It’s easy to see what you should have done when you’re looking in the rearview mirror but you can’t and that’s why men must develop wisdom.
Wisdom is what keeps you from marring the wrong woman, taking that job or investing that money before you do it. When you have wisdom, you live a life with very few regrets. Wise people see the same thing in the windshield as they do the rearview mirror.
The question is “what is wisdom”? It’s actually kind of hard to define but here are three common definitions.
- The first is age but just because you made it to 65 doesn’t automatically mean you’re wise.
- The second is intelligence but there are tons of very smart people who no one would mistake for being wise.
- The third is education but just because you’ve got BS, MA, PhD and other kinds of letters after your name doesn’t guarantee that you’re wise
While none of these make you wise on their own, all three are often found in wise people. The reason is found in a great statement from the book of Proverbs on how to gain wisdom, “Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.” So age does matter, especially when it comes to who you take advice from. the more instruction part is getting more education and the combination of advice and instruction equals smart.
That’s how you become wise but we still haven’t defined wisdom. Especially defining wisdom in just a few, memorable words that boys trying to become men can use as a daily filter to help direct their lives. Here it is:
Wisdom is knowing what’s right and how to do it.
Just to be clear what’s right = what God says is right, because that is the only reliable standard.
That’s wisdom in a nutshell. A really simple sentence that applies to your job, marriage, parenting, hobbies, choice of friends, where you live, well you get the idea. Knowing what’s right and how to do it is really what separates the men from the boys.
