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He and his wife always know best. They sail along through life supreme in the knowledge that they have it all sussed. No-one else has their experience, their knowledge, their understanding, their foresight. If only people knew the depth of their wisdom! If only people would see things the way they see them!
The Know-it-alls are:
They are right in their own opinion and that is the only opinion worth having, Prov. 28. 26; Prov. 12. 15. Success in business, or inherited wealth and social standing, can bring pride, arrogance and that self confidence which makes it difficult to listen to others who are not so successful or well-to-do, Prov. 28.11. Such people forget that success in one area of life does not led to success in every area. It is one thing to be a successful businessman; it is quite another to be a good teacher, a wise spiritual counsellor, or a good shepherd. Sometimes the Know-it-alls are young men and women who have not yet made it. But they
They are pure in their own eyes. They don’t bother to take advice from parents, or from an older generation. In fact, they despise them, Prov. 30. 12-13. ‘What fuddy-duddies they are! How last-year!’ The Know-it-alls are not just proud, they are conceited. Do you see a man ‘wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him,’ Prov. 28. 16.They are, therefore,
They will not listen to wise advice, Prov. 12. 15. They probably don’t even see the need to ask for it and in the unlikely event that they will ever get anything wrong, they’d rather make their own mistakes, thank you very much. God flashes a warning across our paths. ‘Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!’ Isa. 5.21. ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud,’ Prov.16.18-19. God warns us not to keep company with such people. ‘Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits’, Rom.12.16. The ESV puts it like this, ‘Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited’. ‘For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself,’ Gal. 6.3. After all, ‘pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud,’ Prov.16.18-19. And the best advice of all to Mr, or Miss, Know-it-all? ‘Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil’, Prov. 3. 5-7.How much heartache would be avoided if we would consider each other better than ourselves, Phil. 2. 3. Do you know any Know-it-alls? Keep away from them. They won’t help you. Are you one yourself? Don’t be. Pride goes before a fall.
