Job Chapter 20
I Always Give Such Great Advice.
Zophar jumps in to speak with Job because he’s offended by what Job said about him and the other counseling friends. He tells Job, “My understanding inspires me to reply.” In other words, with arrogance Zophar implies that his perception of Job’s problem is accurate and the words he responds with will be filled with wisdom.
We must be careful when we think that somehow our perception of the problem is accurate and our advice to the problem is the best advice. Our confidence can be damaging so we should always speak with grace, love, and compassion. In doing so, you might hear a response that gives you more insight in the problem that you hadn’t known, which changes your whole perception and outlook on the problem. If we go in with an arrogant attitude, we end up hurting the person because of not knowing all the details.
A young lady hurt one of my friends and I felt I knew all the details and wrote a “loving” letter explaining her mistake. I was confident, and would have even argued, that I wasn’t arrogant. But I didn’t have all the facts and my letter ended up hurting the young lady greatly and greatly broke our friendship. I meant well but didn’t have all the information. So I thought I was going to give good advice and ended up giving horrible advice. Be careful. Speak with Grace, Love, and Compassion.
