It was a quiet Saturday evening. Elena was reading to me and I was playing with my long Covid hair. I had been feeling anxious to cut it for quite some time. As she was reading, I was grabbing locks of my hair and pretending to cut it with my fingers. I interrupted her reading and said, “I think I’m going to cut my hair tonight.”
She just nodded as if to say, “Sure, that sounds like a good idea. You’re an adult, after all. You know what you’re doing.”
And I said to myself, “Yeah, I know what I’m doing. I’ve done it before. It’s gonna be fine.”
She went to bed and I started cutting my hair. I figured since I had done it before, I didn’t need to have a clear plan. I’m just gonna do a little trim. It’s gonna be fine.
My plans went south pretty quickly. I gave myself the most crooked and misshapen haircut ever. I felt instant regret about deciding to carry out this plan so late at night and acting on it so quickly! It seemed like a good idea…at the time.
Barry was out of town. I think had he been home, he would have given me much-needed perspective. I need this because, in my opinion, all of my ideas are great! Isn’t that true for all of us? We all like our own ideas! Here’s what the Bible says:
A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.
Proverbs 21:2
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
Proverbs 19:20
Here I was, looking at my crooked hair in the mirror. I was confronted with the hard truth: not all of my ideas are good ideas.
Ouch!
To clarify, sometimes I really do have great ideas. However, sometimes I can’t tell the terrible ideas from the good ones without a little help.
Unfortunately, the same is true for you. We all need help sifting through our ideas. You may not have given yourself a crooked haircut like me, but given that you are a human being reading this, I am certain that the truth of the Bible applies to you as well as to me.
So, whose advice should we seek? Just anyone? The Lord loves fellowship. He started creation in fellowship. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Following his example, God shows us that being interconnected with others who are also pursuing him will lead to good fruit. It can sting and be embarrassing when someone corrects us. But if we know that they love and respect us and the Lord, the hard pill of humility is a little easier to swallow. In doing so, the wisdom you gain is a great treasure. Here’s a little of what the Bible says about the fruit of wisdom:
Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.
Proverbs 4:5-9
Thankfully, for me, this was just hair. After fighting with myself a bit, I finally went to get it fixed by a professional. Hopefully you glean the valuable lesson of seeking wisdom from those who love and respect you and the Lord enough to tell you the things you may not want to hear. Sometimes those hard words may be about repairing a relationship or seeking a job or maintaining integrity. Whatever it is, the hard lesson learned will bear the good fruit of wisdom and humility.
Savina Steimlosk was born and raised in Hawaii, where she met and married her husband, Barry. They have lived in Washington for the past 10 years and have called LifeWay their home church for 6 years. They have two beautiful daughters, Elena (9) and Emily (7). Savina loves singing and dancing.