According to the overall consensus of Proverbs you don’t have to be old in order to be wise. As I have written previously, many of the proverbs were written from the vantage point of a father who sought to instruct his young son (Pro. 1:8-19; 3:1-12; 4:1-27). The young man was to take his father’s advice that he might mature into manhood. The older man intended to teach and train the young man in the way that he should go with the hopes that when he grew older he would remember what he was taught as a young man (Pro. 22:6).
Wisdom, maturity, and understanding are not something you receive simply because you graduate college, have a family and a retirement plan. History records the lives of many old fools, just as it records the history of many wise young men. The wise young man knows when it is time to set aside childish things in order to become a man (1 Cor. 13:11).
Proverbs outlines many attributes of the wise man. It would be wise to apply these characteristics to our lives.
The wise man fears the Lord (Pro. 1:7). Having a fear of the Lord doesn’t mean that you are afraid of Him. Rather, it means you live in awe of His holiness, justice, power, and authority. The wise man loves his wife (Pro. 18:22). Loving your spouse seems obvious to most. But the wise person seeks to honor and serve their spouse in word and deed. The wise man takes responsibility (Pro. 27:8). Fools make excuses, but wise men and women take ownership. The wise man is a good father (Pro. 22:6). Too often parents want to be their children’s best friend, instead of being their parent. The wise man has integrity (Pro. 20:7). The word “integrity” in the Hebrew means “purity,” “completeness,” “blamelessness.” Having integrity is to go against the grain of modern society. The wise man flees temptation (Pro. 1:8-19; 7:6-9). It doesn’t matter if you are enmeshed in the work-a-day world or if you’re a hermit staying away from the world, temptation will find you. The wise man knows how to refuse the world’s temptations.
We could go on and on looking at the characteristics of the wise man. You might be overwhelmed with the prospect of being a wise man. The attributes listed may seem impossible to attain. There is hope, however. The apostle James wrote, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Jam. 1:5). Beloved, wisdom is only a prayer away.