I Find It Really Stressful to Argue with Foolish People!
I really find it stressful to argue with foolish people. Foolish has the same meaning withs stupid. Do you know how stupid should be defined? Stupid means marked by or resulting from unreasonable thinking or acting or it's also very vexatious and exasperating. So what's the point with stupid people? I'm not talking about people with lower intelligence but I'm talking about this one truth that we can get from the Bible about stupid people that makes them very stressful to argue with as with these verses:
Proverbs 12:15 - The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Proverbs 26:12- Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.
It's a problem that the more stupid people are the wiser they think the are. Let's just face it that why don't they listen to advice? It's because they think they're so smart that they don't even need it. They can easily react to anybody who rebukes them out of concern for their own welfare. They think that they know everything but in reality they are clueless as ever.
2 Timothy 3:7 - Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The problem of stupidity is because of the fallen nature of humanity. Stupid people only want to satisfy the three areas of temptation namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Proverbs 16:18). People can have all the knowledge they have and still be stupid. Do you want an example of stupid? I could talk about a few examples of how mankind in general is stupid. The whole world is wrong and only God is right. While Adam and Eve did eat of the tree of knowledge but it only made man stupid. Knowledge doesn't save you from being stupid as many people in the world today have all the knowledge but they never have wisdom.
It's a fact that stupid people never think they're stupid. They are always right in their own eyes. The theme of Judges is that people did what's right in their own eyes. The people of Israel were so stupid during the Judges not to learn the consequences of their actions. They only cared about what was right in their own eyes. It should be a heart-crushing thing that the problem of being wise in one's own eyes is not just exclusive to the Jews but to every fallen sinner. Jew or Gentile alike they are plagued with stupidity because sin brought everything negative into the world. We die, we get sick, we make bad decisions and we become victims of anything evil because all have sinned.
Why is it hard for me not to debate with stupid people or not to mind their stupidity but instead pray for them? The answer is my pride of life and that's one of the three areas where I fall into sin. I have my pride which isn't helping me at all. I'm too concerned about myself than what God wants me to do. But the Bible gives this advice in how anybody should deal with fools:
Proverbs 26:4-5 - Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
What I need to remember is that I can always take people to evidence but I can't make them believe. While I should be loving and kind towards stupid people because they're lost without Christ, but even if I try to be as nice as possible some of them will still persist in their stupidity. It's stressful to try and convince them when they refuse to believe the evidence that they're wrong. It's up to them and not up to me when they're already given the evidence.
All that arguing with a fool did to me is degrade my health. I know it's not easy for me to swallow my pride or to control my temper. But I don't have to worry about that because God's grace is all I need. Titus 2:11-14 tells me that when I'm struggling with sin then there's God's grace to teach me righteousness. Since I'm no longer law but under grace then it becomes easier for me to avoid debating with fools and to resist the temptation of doing so.