Listen to advice and accept discipline, So that you may be wise the rest of your days- Proverbs 19:20 NASB

A friend and I have been reading through the book of Proverbs. Less than halfway through the book it is painfully obvious God feels there is a dividing line between the foolish and the wise. God calls His people to live a life of wisdom (Proverbs 4:5-7, James 1:5) and He makes it clear in His word that only a fool refuses to listen to advice or receive correction (Proverbs 1:7 Proverbs 12:1, Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 15:5).

It could be argued that there are a lot of fools in our culture.

 If I were looking for the most efficient way to get “cancelled” by the largest number of people or for the fast track to becoming a social pariah I would just offer advice and correction to everyone I met whether they asked for it or not. Even if the advice I gave was good (and it would be), no one would like me. There is simply no easier way to offend the average person in our culture than to offer unsolicited advice or correction. 

Nobody likes it. 

However, just because the average person dislikes something does not mean it’s necessarily wrong or bad. Listening to advice and hearing correction is a little bit like eating fruits and vegetables. It’s not the most enjoyable thing in the world and most folks would prefer to do something else or eat something else. It is true that an individual CAN go their whole adult life without listening to advice or eating vegetables. Nonetheless, sooner or later those choices will catch up to them (and their colon) in profoundly unpleasant ways. 

 I am not suggesting anyone should blindly FOLLOW every bit of advice they are given or agree with and then act on every word of correction they receive. Well-meaning people sometimes correct without knowing all the facts and people are wrong about all sorts of things. Moreover, some advice is just plain bad. To sort through this issue, we must understand the differences between following advice and listening to advice. Listening to advice is just a willingness to hear someone out.  It’s not a commitment to anything. It’s choosing to evaluate what we hear from others. Following advice is doing what we are told.  Listening to advice is a sign of wisdom and maturity. No one should blindly follow advice without taking some time to think and pray through what’s been said. 

God gave us brains. He expects them to be used. 

 All that being said, there are some serious consequences to living life on the wrong side of God’s divide. Some of those are:

We end up avoiding wise people-  

If we avoid advice, it will not be long before we are surrounded by fools or evil people who cheerfully tell us exactly what we want to hear. Truly wise people just kind of radiate wisdom. They can’t help it. To fools and those who are not accustomed to hearing wisdom spoken, wisdom sometimes sounds like an awful lot like advice even if the person speaking is not intending to give advice. If wise counsel annoys us, we will naturally steer clear of wise people (Proverbs 9:8-9). This is a huge problem because the Bible is very clear: we become like the people we spend time with (Proverbs 13:20, 1st Corinthians 15:33). 

We prove ourselves stupid- 

It is a rare thing for a stranger to attempt to correct a person. Correction is typically only offered by those who care most about our future happiness and success.  The consequences of refusing to at least hear out those who lovingly attempt to set us on a wiser path is that we prove ourselves to be hopelessly stupid (Proverbs 12:1, Ecclesiastes 10:3). 

We invite death into our lives-  

Refusing to hear advice or correction is just refusing an opportunity to gain wisdom (Proverbs 10:8). Snubbing wisdom is a fast track to death of one kind or another (Psalm 38:5, Proverbs 2, Proverbs 8:33-36, Proverbs 11:19, Proverbs 14:12). Sometimes the death that results in refusing wisdom is spiritual death, the death of opportunities or the death of relationships (Proverbs 14:1). Other times refusing wisdom results in actual death death. The easiest way to avoid the death of anything good in our lives is to love wisdom (Proverbs 12:28). One critical aspect of loving wisdom is hearing advice and evaluating any correction we are given. 

We stunt our growth-

Wisdom is the key to growth. It’s the key not just to spiritual growth but also all healthy growth in all areas of our lives. We cannot grow relationally, spiritually or in any other way without wisdom. Wisdom often comes through advice given by people (1st Corinthians 3:6-7). Anytime we willfully spurn correction or refuse to listen to wise counsel, we pretty much guarantee we will remain immature and ignorant in every area of our lives (1st Peter 2:2). 

And finally, 

We refuse Jesus-

Jesus is more than just the creator of the world or our savior and Lord. He is also the manifestation of all the wisdom in the universe (Luke 2:40, Colossians 2:1-3, 1st Corinthians 1:30, 1st Corinthians 2:6-8). Oftentimes Jesus speaks His wisdom through His people. Refusing to at least evaluate the wisdom other Christians have to offer is a form of refusing God when He speaks (Hebrews 12:25). However, making the choice to hear people out is a fast track to flourishing (Psalm 92:12-15).