Topic: To Become Wise, Spend Time with Wise People [RICK WARREN Devotional 20 November 2024]
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To Become Wise, Spend Time with Wise People
by Rick Warren — November 20, 2024
“Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer.”
Proverbs 13:20 (NCV)
If you want to be wise, invite wise people into your life.
You don’t need a lot of friends. You don’t need to be popular. You just need a few good friends who build you up, not tear you down—who are wise, not fools.
If you hang around with fools, that’s what you become. But if you spend time with wise people, you’ll grow wiser. It’s like the old saying: “If you want to soar with the eagles, you can’t run with the turkeys.”
People grow best in community. You can’t grow to spiritual maturity by yourself. God designed us to need each other. Wisdom shows up primarily in relationships.
You could become a monk and move to the top of a mountain and spend your life in silence and reading books; you would grow in knowledge, but you wouldn’t grow in wisdom. You can hold advanced academic degrees but still have your relationships fall apart; being educated doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wise.
The Bible says in Proverbs 13:20, “Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer” (NCV).
If I stand on the edge of a stage, and I’m trying to pull you up while you’re trying to pull me down, which is easier to do? It’s always easier for somebody to pull you down than pull you up. But people who pull you down are not your true friends. Real friends pull you up. They encourage you in your pursuit of godly wisdom by offering their own.
Do you have anybody in your life who is sharing their wisdom on a regular basis? You need that kind of encouragement in your life if you want to be a wise person.
Talk It Over
- Who are the people closest to you? How are they encouraging you in spiritual growth and wisdom? Or, on the other hand, how are they distracting you from learning to live wisely?
- What wise, mature Christian would you like to cultivate a deeper relationship with so you can grow in wisdom? What younger believer would you like to invest time with so you can share what you’ve learned already?
- Why is it more important to have a few deep relationships than to have a lot of friends?
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