But let me ask you, what don't you know? If you have trouble answering that question then you might want to dig a little deeper.
You've probably heard people say, "As a teenager my parents were idiots, but in just a few years they wised up!" Youth and inexperience often breeds arrogance and a "know-it-all" attitude. But it's not limited to teenagers. Anyone can act that way. I certainly have.
Researchers have shown that this attitude of illusory superiority causes people to mistakenly rank their abilities too high. Read about Dunner-Kruger effect.
Have you ever prayed for wisdom? I hear it all the time and I just began to wonder what exactly people wanted when they prayed that prayer. Superior knowledge? Ability to anticipate things/people? The right words at the right moment?
Certainly wisdom is all of those things, but could it be that God's wisdom blessing is to show us what we don't know? Proverbs 9:10 tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I can't fear God and be arrogant! I have to be humble. And sometimes that means not always having the answer, but we need to be humble and rely on the Lord. And it causes us to be less self-reliant and pushes us to seek God and to engage and motivate people.
What real wisdom brings:
- Proper perspective—truth—John 8:32
- Proper attitude about self and others—more "we" than "me"—Phil. 2:3
- Proper attitude toward God—true reliance and faith—Prov. 3:5
- Proper end results—1 Cor. 3:13
Of course, there's no excuse for not doing what's necessary to stay on top of things. That's not my point. I need to be humble enough to rely on God's help, to engage and motivate people, and to focus on what my team/organization is doing, instead of how I look.
Be wise. Be humble.
