Tuesday morning → one verse → one leadership thought → one question: What will you do differently?
Proverbs 1:5 — The Wise Keep Listening
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.”
When I studied Theology, much of my learning happened in lectures. But some of the most important learning happened outside the classroom.
For three years I volunteered at a rehabilitation centre, often taking college students with me. We would talk theology on the drive, then arrive and put some of it into practice — scrubbing kitchens, weeding gardens and working alongside the people who lived there. Later, when I began teaching others, I discovered that teaching what I had learned embedded it more deeply in me. Looking back, I see a pattern:
Listen. Learn. Practise. Teach. Keep learning.
Perhaps the most important part is the last one.
One word worth knowing
The Hebrew word for “listen” is:
שָׁמַע — shama — to hear, listen, heed or respond.
The Greek Septuagint puts Proverbs 1:5 beautifully:
ἀκούσας σοφὸς σοφώτερος ἔσται
“Having listened, the wise will become wiser.”
Solomon isn’t telling the ignorant to listen. He’s telling the wise to listen. The wise haven’t stopped listening because they became wise. They became wise partly because they never stopped listening.
Learner
Learner is my number-one CliftonStrength. I love discovering something new, exploring another idea and asking another question. But learning can become the destination — another book, podcast, course or set of notes. Proverbs asks a harder question:
What am I doing differently because of what I have learned?
And perhaps, as we become more experienced:
Who am I still willing to learn from?
James echoes this wisdom: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak.” (James 1:19)
Perhaps maturity isn’t having more to say. Perhaps it’s becoming better at listening.
Reflect
Who or what might I need to listen to more carefully right now?
Wisdom isn’t reaching the point where nobody can tell me anything.
The wise don’t graduate from listening. They become wiser because they keep listening.