What Fools Hate

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.
– Proverbs 1:7

As a child, I memorized that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But to this day if you had asked me to complete the verse, I wouldn’t be able to. As I’ve matured in my faith and spent more time in Scripture, I have found several places in Scripture where this is true.

Fools despise wisdom and discipline. This truth may have been more important for little kid Renae to grasp than knowing the origin of knowledge. I was definitely disciplined on earth much more 12 years ago than I am today.

Let’s couple this well-known verse with another one a mere 15 verses later:

How long, foolish ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge?
– Proverbs 1:22

What do you hate?

Hate is a strong word, but I would probably find several items to list in this category. I hate: live insects in my house, eating breakfast without orange juice, all things tomatoes except for ketchup, and using the stall without toilet paper.

My quick response of things that I hate revolve around earthly concerns – my comfort and preferences.

But what about the spiritual things that matter like sin? Do I hate sin? Probably not enough, otherwise I’d find more drastic combative techniques.

From Proverbs chapter one, we learn that fools hate wisdom, discipline, and knowledge.

True wisdom comes from God and requires us to ask for it. God grants us a new perspective – HIS perspective – on matters so that we better understand how He is at work and how we can respond to be part of His plan.

I love when I display self-discipline in various matters, but I usually despise being disciplined (or corrected) by others. But I have thanked my parents for the discipline they gave me as a child because it formed my character. And we need to learn to thank God for His discipline that makes us more like Him.

Knowledge is power but frequently that power leads us to trust ourselves rather than God. True knowledge stems from a right understanding of God and His authority.

We probably don’t hate wisdom, discipline, or knowledge, but we probably don’t express a constant attitude of thankfulness for them either. Take time today to thank God for his discipline and ask Him to increase your wisdom and knowledge so that you can better show His love to the people around you.