Be Not Wise In Your Own Eyes

Ever had a verse that made you stop and go - what?!? I had one on Sunday. I was reading Proverbs 3 during some God time and verse 7 made me stop...

Be not wise in your own eyes

Wait... what?? Shouldn't we be able to discern wise from foolish council?? Aren't we supposed to give wise advice when asked? Yet we are not to view ourselves as wise? What?

Okay, this is where I had to back up about two verses then read the whole thing (plus the second half of 7)

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.

So many people know verses 5 and 6. I wonder how many times I quoted that and didn't know where it came from.

Now that we've put it all together it makes sense - we are to trust in God with every fiber of our being and flee every evil thing. That alone is the only wise thing we can do. If we do that our wisdom comes from God - apart from Him we are fools. When we understand this we know that we are not wise, but that with God we are given wisdom and understanding.

It is easy to forget that our wisdom is from God and not from ourselves. Then pride sets in and we set ourselves up to fail. So, be not wise in your own eyes.