DISCERNMENT 101

Proverbs 1:1-71
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; 3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; 4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-- 5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-- 6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Recently, ABC's Charlie Gibson reported a growing high-tech cheating trend in high schools and colleges. In a 6-month investigation, he discovered students using cell-phone cameras, text-messaging, and PDAs to cheat more efficiently. And plagiarizing from the Internet with the cut-and-paste method has now replaced typing long passages from an encyclopedia as students did a generation ago.

A disturbing aspect of this trend is that few students seemed to experience much guilt about what they were doing. Some of them cynically argued that cheating in school was good preparation for a business career where they would have to do whatever was necessary to get ahead.

"Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to them," one teacher cautioned. "They haven't learned a lesson at this level and it's going to create problems for them later in life."

That seems key to me. True, after I got out of school, I didn't use a lot of the stuff I had learned. (For instance, I never again needed to know what an "isosceles triangle" was.) But besides the obvious benefits of a wide education, gaining knowledge is one ofthe most important components of developing good discernment.

The words wisdom and knowledge are often linked with discernment in Proverbs: "Let the discerning get guidance" (3:21)." "Knowledge comes easily to the discerning" (14:33). "Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning" (15:14), and "the discerning heart seeks knowledge" (16:21).

Mickey Imber, a Kansas University professor, says, "If you acquire a broad knowledge base . . . you can then reason your way to sensibly held convictions." Solomon wrote, "Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding" (4:5).

Taking shortcuts in school can lead to taking shortcuts for the rest of your life. And that will handicap you from developing the kind of discernment you'll need to make good decisions, explain your convictions, and to be a person who is "wise in heart" (Proverbs 16:21). --Cindy Kasper

DESTINATION POINTS

* How important is it to me to develop good discernment?
* In whatways do I have good discernment? Where do I think I need help?

LINKS:
Cheaters Amok
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Primetime/US/cheating_040429-1.html

bottom line: Got a choice to make? Get knowledge first!

soul journey