Boundaries- The Wise and the Fool Proverbs 9: 7-9, Proverbs 12:15 and Proverbs 14:17

The wisdom literature of Proverbs often contrasts the wise and the fool. It’s too easy to say that there are wise people and there are fools. In reality, even those of us who have grown to be as wise as possible have areas of life that need developed. However, the warning is there in scripture because we need to pay attention to what we are dealing with. Is the person in front of us teachable, curious, willing to learn, seeking wisdom, honest, discerning, and capable of good decision making? That’s a wise person. Do I need to be more cautious and boundaried because the person is lacking judgement, reckless, reactive, easily duped, assumes they know, and has a history ignoring wisdom and good advise? That is the way of the fool. We welcome the wise but we need to have appropriate boundaries when dealing with foolish behavior or foolish relational interaction. This is complicated. Let’s learn together and from each other.

1. A theme in scripture is “pay attention to wisdom and more wisdom comes.” Where our attention goes our energy follows. If we tune into wisdom and connect to wise people we grow in wisdom. Who has been a source of wisdom for you and how have they helped you learn?
2. We all grow and mature in our lives. Was there an area of your life that took you a long time to learn because you were too locked in and unteachable for a while?
3. Have you ever had to put a boundary in place with someone that was hard but proved fruitful over time? (OR) Is there a boundary you need to create with anyone right now?
4. Is there anything going on where you need wisdom right now? Could you bring that up and open yourself to the shared wisdom of the group?