When The Bible Calls You Stupid

When the Bible Calls You Stupid

The off-season for professional athletes can be a time when they find trouble. With money to spend and time on their hands, a few of them will invariably make the news for actions that seem to the rest of us to be really, really stupid. When you look up the definition of the word stupid, it says, “Lacking intelligence or common sense.”

As a parent, I tell my children not to call each other stupid, and as a kid I was prohibited from calling my siblings stupid, even though I sometimes felt they deserved it.

But I found a verse in Scripture that uses the word I was prohibited from using. Why would the Bible call someone stupid? When does Scripture tell someone they lack sense? The answer is pretty simple. Proverbs 12:1 states, “To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.”

There it is. Hating correction is stupid. I have found that this is the very fine line between life as a fool and life as a person of wisdom. Being teachable is the determining factor between wisdom and folly. Is someone trying to correct you at work or home, or while coaching at the ballpark? Is the Lord trying to bring correction into your life so you will walk the right path? The fact that the Lord is willing to correct you and discipline you is evidence of his love. Don’t be stupid. Heed this word.

To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.

Proverbs 12:1