Emulating the Wise and Not the Fool
What Proverbs 13:20 teaches us about the people we associate with
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes:
Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. -Proverbs 13:20 (NLT)
I try to walk with the wise everyday. I do this through my connections with my parents, my friends, and through books. Most of the wisdom I attain comes from my family, friends, and quotes or passages, which I then write in my commonplace book. I tend to learn a lot of life lessons through this activity, which is one of my spiritual practices.
“Fools learn from experience, I prefer to learn from the experience of others.” -Otto Von Bismarck
Proverbs 13:20 is an important scripture, it teaches us to be careful who we associate ourselves with because the wrong people can lead us astray from our goals, dreams, and destiny. There is a famous adage that says, “when you lie down with dogs you get fleas”. This just means that if you hang out with bad people you may end up picking up their bad habits and tendencies, or you may get in trouble just by association even if you haven’t done anything wrong. You must walk with the wise if you want a more meaningful, enlightened, and trouble-free life.
Identifying the Wise vs. the Fool
How do we know who is wise and who is foolish? The easiest way is to watch how people live their lives. We tend to think that older people are wise and in most cases that is true. If you are a young person then a more “seasoned” individual has seen more and has lived more than you have. They’ve made mistakes in life and have learned from them. When they pass on their wisdom to you, it's because they want you to learn from the life decisions that they made.
However, older people do not have a monopoly on wisdom. People we perceive to be foolish can also be wise. We think foolish people are those who are constantly in trouble or are living a sinful life. In most cases that is true, in others its not. Wisdom can come from the drug dealer on the street that tells a young person to get an education in order to better their life. This example shows that wise people are not wise all the time and foolish people are not foolish all the time. A wise person was once foolish and a foolish person is just waiting to be shown how to live wisely. I believe wisdom and foolishness, as Ibram X. Kendi stated about racism and antiracism, “are not permanent tattoos…we can only strive to be one or the other”, by the people we associate with.
The Wisdom of Jesus
Jesus is a perfect example of a wise person we should strive to emulate. During his public ministry he associated with a lot of people whom we would call, and whom the Pharisees and the Sadducees called, foolish. These people included the following: the 12 disciples, the prostitute, the leper, the tax collector, the two thieves at the crucifiction, and the sinner like you and me. All of these individuals were foolish at one or more points but Jesus gave them the wisdom they needed to turn their lives around. For example, when the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman to Jesus, what did he do? He showed the Pharisees the errors of their ways by saying, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). After the men left, Jesus revealed to the woman that her accusers had departed and then told her to “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Imagine if Jesus had not been there to share his wisdom with this group of people. More than likely the woman would have been stoned and the religious leaders would have gone about their day looking for other “foolish” people to shame. Jesus, by imparting wisdom to this group was able to defuse the situation which resulted in a woman’s life being saved and prevented the religious leaders from committing murder.
The Wise vs. the Fool Couplets
I conclude this piece by sharing my own proverbs in the vein of Proverbs 13:20. May it be beneficial to you in your daily walk:
The wise encourages me in my doubts, the fool discourages me in my doubts.
When you are in the company of the wise you are never alone, when you are in the company of fools you are always alone.
The wise helps strengthen my faith, the fool helps weaken it.
The wise teaches me how to make amends when I'm guilty of something, the fool will tell me that I’m not guilty of anything.
The wise gives me guidance throughout life, the fool will lead me on a detour to destruction and hell.
I can depend on the wise to give me hope when I’m down, the fool will bring me misery and despair.
The wise will give me love or at least teach me how to love others better, the fool will tell me that love is for suckers.
The wise will prepare me for death, while the fool will pretend that I’m immortal.
The wise will teach me the importance of Christ and his salvation, while the fool will tell me that I don’t need Christ or his salvation.
The wise will teach me how to manage and treat my anxiety, the fool tells me anxiety isn’t real and it will go away on its own.
The wise will comfort you in sadness, the fool will leave you alone when tears well up in your eyes.
The wise says fear not because God is with you, the fool says that fear makes you a punk.
