Learning to Listen #8

Often, when we read Proverbs, we feel like it is made up of a long string of unrelated advice from one verse to another. At first, that can seem to be the case in Proverbs 18: 

12 Before destruction a man's heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.
13 If one gives an answer before he hears,
    it is his folly and shame.
14 A man's spirit will endure sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?
15 An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
    and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
16 A man's gift makes room for him
    and brings him before the great.
17 The one who states his case first seems right,
    until the other comes and examines him.

Do you notice a pattern here? Every other verse has to do with learning to listen. The first verse, verse 12, warns us to be humble, not haughty, while the second verse, verse 13, gives an illustration: the haughty speaks out, thinking he knows the answer before he knows the real question. Verse 14 talks about the fact that emotional sickness due to words wrongly spoken is worse than physical sickness, and could be avoided if we would listen and learn more, rather than thinking we always need to speak. The last pair of verses says: "you go first; I want to hear what you have to say." Always trying to speak over others, or have the first and last word, may sound good at first, but in the end only proves how unloving and unwise we really are.  Solomon is talk to us about a lifestyle of listening and learning - humbly, wisely, lovingly.