what comes with age

Today in the One Year Bible, Paul is teaching Timothy what aspects are important for the elders of the church to have. We read this in 1 Timothy 3:1-16.

He says many things, all of which are good ideas for pretty much any Christian to learn. But then he says that it's best not to let YOUNG Christians become elders... because it may cause them to become proud.

When we're young, we don't yet know what we don't know. We haven't learned the wisdom of Socrates yet, who was deemed by the Oracle of Delphi to be the wisest man in Athens because even though he said he knew nothing, he REALIZED that he knew nothing. The other "wise men" of Athens also knew nothing, he explained, but they didn't realize it. So KNOWING what he didn't know made him wise. When we're young, we haven't gained that wisdom yet.

But as we get older, and have experiences that teach us all of the many things we don't know... we gain the wisdom of Socrates. We know that we don't know. And so we are then ready to become an elder (if that's what God wants) because we're not tempted to pride... we're all too familiar with our shortcomings, and know that it's only by His grace that we are able to do anything successfully.

God, thank You for teaching us that we know nothing, so we can be wise.