How to link wisdom to your conduct (1)

To start with, a person of understanding knows that he must link his wisdom to his conduct. We cannot speak principles of wisdom to others and simultaneously neglect to act upon wisdom ourselves. By the same token, we should never listen to a person—who doesn’t do what he says. Someone like that has nothing to lose in giving us advice. If his wisdom and understanding aren’t good enough for him, they aren’t good enough for others, either!

Our lives will greatly benefit if we listen only to people who are willing to risk everything—for what is right and true. People like that will put everything they are on the line, in order to get the right thing to happen in another’s life. Those are the people we need to pursue, when desiring to gain understanding.

If a person is in error, in any area of his or her life, understanding will correct him or her, teach him or her how to stop doing what is wrong, and show him how to begin doing what is right. If he is an employee, understanding will show him how to best please those to whom he is responsible. If he is a parent, understanding will give him direction in raising good children. If the individual is a husband or a wife, understanding will add peace and life to his or her marriage.

Too many couples spend their married lives arguing. Finally, after being married for 30 years, they get to the point where they decide just to put up with each other for the rest of their lives, because they do not want to start over again in another relationship.

There are so few individuals in this world—who even want to understand their spouses. That’s why it’s important for husbands and wives to seek to be gifts to each other, by pursuing understanding in the marriage relationship.

For husbands who value character, there is no alternative but to become men of principle and lead their families. If a husband is not a man of understanding, integrity, and principle within his home, that home will fail. Likewise, the home will fail if the wife does not choose to be understanding. And when the parents fail to take their roles in the home, their children are the ones who will pay the price.

EFCC receives petition against Tinubu over bullion vans

A person of character strives daily to gain more understanding. He will actually search more for understanding, in a situation, than for answers. Discovering an answer simply means that closure is now available to any given situation, whereas understanding is something he can take into all areas of life.

Taking this crucial issue further, understanding comes as we begin to pursue principle. As we engage ourselves in sound knowledge, wisdom will often reveal, in little glimpses, the things we need to know. When we see one of those small glimpses, we need to revisit it again and again, until we finally get complete understanding.

We need understanding so we can accurately interpret and apply principled guidelines. We also need understanding so we can see the situations we face from a deeper perspective, not just from a subjective point of view. If we look at life through our own limited perspective, we will never understand it, for genuine insight lies only in what truth has to say about any given subject.

A person of understanding is a person of wisdom, insight, wise counsel, and discretion; therefore, he does not judge by what he sees. Reserving judgment for the appropriate time clothes a man with understanding. A person of understanding doesn’t look at situations as they seem to be; after all, people can make things look the way they want them to look. Instead of looking at the outward appearance to discern the truth of a situation, one who exercises understanding examines the heart of the situation.

In order to guide our affairs with understanding, we need to know why things are said and why people do the things they do. But we can’t understand these things by using our own reasoning abilities. That is why we must never judge by what we see or what we hear. Rather, we must perceive with pure judgment. This judgment is only possible when we understand the principles operating in the situation.

Also, individuals who possess understanding realize that they must be corrected, at times, because it is vital that they become accurate in every area of life. However, most people do not want to be corrected. They resent correction and simply don’t want to change. They don’t realize that if they live without correction, their lives will produce nothing.

Understanding willingly accepts responsibility for its behavior. After receiving just one simple word of correction, a man of understanding will readily change and improve. He will grow in character through the correction. He understands that, in order to become the best person he can be, there will be times when he must be corrected. Conversely, one could embarrass a show-off a hundred times, and he still won’t change.

Though we all need periodic adjustment and guidance from wise leaders, that does not mean we can put the responsibility for the outcome of our lives on these most valuable of all people. We must always be willing to take responsibility for the outcome of our own lives. Only as we are willing to take responsibility for our lives that we will be able to gain the necessary understanding about our lives…

Till I come your way again next week Monday, see you where rock-solid leaders are found!

Nigerian Tribune