I came by it honestly as a young adult. My grandfather had it, my mom had it, and I inherited it.   Is is as my father named it: “a lead foot.” It is the tendency to allow the weight of your foot to fall into a position where the vehicle you are driving travels at a rate of speed that some would say inappropriate, particularly law enforcement personnel. My mother was famous for pushing the speed limits in her 68 Dodge Dart and when I started to drive, and to my regret, I needed little encouragement to drive faster than the posted limit.

 

My youthful zeal resulted in speeding tickets, with the cumulative effect that threatened my license to be suspended. I learned my lesson soon enough to alter my driving, but not soon enough to avoid the penalty of tickets and years of higher insurance rates. The cumulative effect taught me a lesson, to be careful, but not soon enough to actually change.

 

The wise person, when corrected, becomes all the wiser. In my analogy the wise person takes heed to the posted signs and appreciates feedback such as the portable radar detectors that remind you that you are either in or out of compliance.

 

We need wisdom, and we need feedback. It was Spurgeon who said. “He who is his own guide is guided by a fool.”

 

The information could be the same, the response is where the difference lies. There is a difference between punishment that brings correction and wisdom that brings change. If you were wrong would you want to know it? Be wise and receive correction and be all the wiser!

 

In His Hands,

 

John