Accepting Others and Self ,(Ecc 7: 19-22)

ACCEPTING OTHERS AND SELF (Ecc 7: 19-22): 

Most of the people consider the strength of a city by the number of people it holds and the leaders who rule over them. The author points out that Wisdom is a strength to the wise man, more than ten rulers who are in the city under them. The ability to discern and judge over the things, happenings and situations of life are all that is needed for the Leader more than the number of people who are just present to show the power and strength. Wisdom is all that is needed to discern and judge and if there exists one wise man with the wisdom, he would be strengthened by it and rule efficiently, more than having the ten rulers who exist in the city. Sometimes the rulers who fail to act wisely can bring disaster and confusion in the city.

The author also says that there is no righteous man upon the earth for sure who does good and sin not. Throughout the history of the world and the bible, there is no one who had been mentioned or noted to be righteous from birth to death, being absolutely sinless, except Christ. Even the people who were desirous to God had been fallen into temptations because of various reasons. At the same time, we could also see God-fearing people, trying their best to avoid sin, as well as reconcile with real repentance though they fall for something at times.

Everyone has different thoughts according to the way they perceive and feel. So, everything that is said by everyone would not be actual, and heeding to everything and considering everything would only result in confusion without having a conclusion. So, the author says not to take heed unto all the words that are spoken, lest a person hears his servant cursing him. The author presumes that a servant will always revile against the master due to the human nature because the servant doesn’t want to be controlled or commanded by others without reason, in spite of whether it is right or not. The author also correlates it with saying to reflect about own self because a person’s heart knows many times that, the person himself hast cursed others. There is no one in the earth who would not have faced some betrayal or injustice or hatred from others, at least for a particular point of time, which would surely cause them `to think badly about them or leave some painful scars in the heart.

Stimulations for Self-Reflection:

1.    What gives strength to the wise, in comparison to what?

2.    How Wisdom gives strength to the wise man than ten rulers?

3.    Surely who is not there on earth?

4.    Why the author says that there is no righteous man on earth?

5.    What the person need not heed or take to heart?

6.    Why does the author say that a person would have his servant cursing him?

7.    What does a person’s heart know?

8.    How and when a person would have cursed others in the heart?

9.    How can we enhance our wisdom and build confidence in it, rather than the strength of people?

10.    How we can discern or judge others’ words and our own thoughts?