It is not good to have zeal without knowledge
Nor to be hasty and miss the way Proverbs19:2
This is tough advice for someone like me. I like to make snap decisions and often don't take time to find out all the facts. I am compulsively impulsive and if I leave this tendency unchecked it can get me into a lot of trouble.
Make no mistake - to be zealous is good, as long as one tempers the zeal with patience, research, advice, and wisdom. In our zeal to do great things for God, we should take time to learn from others. It is said that those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!
The two mistakes are:
- To have insufficient knowledge, information, and research
-- To be in such a rush that we miss the warning signs along the way.
I have seen many zealous people who have had their zeal crushed by mistakes they made because they did not do the groundwork properly.
What is the groundwork?
1. Pray about what one is planning to do
2. Do as much research as you can about what you are planning to do
3. Get advice from older wiser Christians who would not be afraid to tell you when you're wrong.
4. Make sure you are reading the signs along the way - opposition to your great idea isn't always just the devil trying to stop you - sometimes you've got it wrong!
5. (This may sound contradictory) Don't give up to quickly - very often the mistake of zealous people make is that they do not persevere. If you have had no stop-signs from God, and you are convinced that what you're doing is His idea and not just yours, then hang in there!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
