The Older You Get, the Wiser You Get, Right?

Where are the old wise men who are supposed to be mentoring the young men of today?

Where are the Titus 2 men who should be leading churches and setting ups systems to ensure the spiritual formation and growth of the younger men in the church?

Are you on a path that will allow you to fill those shoes when the strength of your youth has left you, and you find yourself the elder spokesman in the midst of men looking for wisdom and leadership?

As I age, now approaching 38, I find myself wondering if I'm where I should be in the area of wisdom. This isn't an easy question to answer, because after all, how do you really quantify "wisdom?" By how much money you make? By how big your home is? By how long you've been married? You see, there isn't an easy answer to the question.

The bible does say that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom," and that we should seek after wisdom, but when does one become truly 'wise?' And how do you know?

A few things I look for when determining whether someone is wise, and worth listening to, are:

• Does he fear the LORD? And does his life prove this to be true...
• Is his life worth imitating? And, would I be okay with my sons turning out like him?
• Do his decisions in life benefit more than just himself?
• Do respectable men follow him as a leader?
• Have his decisions helped, or hurt, those closest to him?
• If he's married, what's the countenance of his wife like? Is it uplifted, and joyful...or downtrodden, and sad?
• If he has children, are his children respectable, or regrettable? Would I be okay if my children turned out like them?
• Does he have a biblical worldview concerning issues of life, marriage, family, children, education, gender roles, and masculinity and femininity?
  
• And finally, are his decisions about life based on the wisdom of God's word?

So, these are just a few questions that I ask myself about someone when determining if they're wise, or not, and whether I would go to them for counsel, or not.

What about you, how would you hold up under the weight of these questions? They may not exactly address where you're at in life, but just as a road map, would you do okay if examined by them?

To my shame, I've made many regrettable decisions, and have hurt those around me far more than I ever would have desired to, and live with the knowledge of this everyday. If it were not for the grace our LORD, I shutter to think of where my family would be today. As each day begins afresh, I hope the grace of God allows me to gain another nugget of wisdom, so perhaps one day, those around me will be able to say that I was someone worth imitating.

It isn't a given, that as you age, you grow wiser--you must set yourself on a trajectory to land there. Are you on that trajectory? Would those around you agree???