Moving from Isolation to Understanding Part 2

Proverbs 18:1-2 says, “whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. a fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in expressing his opinion.”

so i ended my thoughts with selfishness, which is where isolation leads every time. seeking your own desire, takes no consideration for anyone else on the planet. unfortunately, i am not alone. i am involved with a community that has weight on how things should and should not be done. to my great surprise i realized something- without my community, there is little that i would know how to do, function, and even interact.

then comes the next verse to extrapolate on this thought of needing others. here i find myself in the company of fools, which is never easy to say, but it is true. there are many times that in my isolation i could care less about what my community says or thinks. instead i think that my ideas and thoughts are better than the majority of the world. in this moment i find myself in a pretty low place. my arrogance and pride is exposed and my godlike complex flourishes like a weed in a bed of roses.

i know that whether i mean to or not i manifest a godlike complex where i think the world revolves me. if i am god, then you know what, i don’t care about you or your life. thank goodness our God is not like us. if i am the center of the universe why would i try to understand you? why would i extend to you? why would i do anything but propagate my perspective on the world.

that was a few scary paragraphs to write, as i see the utter depravity of myself in it. thankfully, i have a choice in this situation. i do not have to live that way. i do not have to isolate myself. i do not have to be a fool. i do not have to express my opinion. i can choose understanding. i can choose community. i can choose wisdom. i can chose to care. i can choose to not be god. this comes as a huge relief to me. in the midst of the depravity, the truth confessed brings an understanding and experience of wholeness to my life, salvation, redemption, restoration (Jam 5.16).

Undoubtedly, this reversing of the way i want to live life is not easy. as i have forementioned, relationship is hard, community is harder, and selflessness is a task that is impossible without help from Jesus himself. to even train yourself to stop expressing your thoughts about everything and instead listening to others is a challenge. however, if you will stop and listen. i think you will begin to find a tenderness in yourself. you hear, listen, and then make a connection. some person you run across seems to be more different from you in every way, and then all of a sudden, you listen and see that they are just like you.

so it’s a choice, and only you can make it for yourself.

more to come on what is the result of moving from isolation to understanding.

-peaks out.