THE SIMPLE

“The simple believe in anything. But the prudent give thought to their steps, Proverbs 14:15

We are going to continue looking at proverbs. What does simple mean in proverbs

First of all, it does not mean mentally slow or unintelligent.

It means someone who is naïve, gullible, inexperienced, easily influenced, and morally unformed. The simple person is open-minded in the wrong way; they lack discernment. They believe what they hear without testing it. We see that, unfortunately, it is exploding today with social media and the internet. We see people going down all sorts of rabbit holes and believing all sorts of stuff that is unbiblical and false teaching. The Bible warns over and over again, especially through Paul, about false teachers. He called them like wolves in sheep's clothing, leading people astray. That’s even more true today with the internet. Sadly, we tend to spend more time getting our theology online than actually reading the Bible itself. Deception is rife online. As someone said, Most people today, especially younger people, are discipled online rather than by their peers or leaders in the Christian community, because, like it or not, that’s where they spend most of their time, sadly. One of the 9 gifts in Corinthians is the gift of discernment, which is a precious gift to develop. The prudent think carefully, examine their path, and are guided by wisdom. The simple are vulnerable, especially if they are not grounded in the word of God and cannot discern what is true or not true, and end up believing, sad to say, rubbish, false teaching, and deception.

That's why it's important for parents of young children to teach them and read together the Word of God.