How many times do we find ourselves thinking: "Why did not I think before I spoke that?" or "Why did I make that hasty decision?"
In the Bible we see cases of men afraid of the Lord, who, like us, act by impulse or lack of self-control, which brought very bad consequences for their lives and for the lives of others.
Moses struck the stone in an attitude of despair and did not enter the promised land, David could not control his desires and came to the point of killing a man after committing adultery.
Sometimes our actions lead us to such sad consequences as these, other times not so much, but anyway, avoiding them is always better.
When we behave in this way, we simply forget what the Law of God teaches us, and even that there is a God.
For a fraction of seconds we ignore the world around us to satisfy our own desires, or to defend our own arguments. They are desperate attitudes that demonstrate a desire to try to resolve the facts with our own hands and at the time we think is appropriate.
Nothing is further from what the Scripture teaches us.
The Puritan Matthew Henry in his series of biblical commentaries draws attention to the exemplary attitude of King Ahasuerus in the book of Esther (7: 7-8) when in a moment of fury against Haman, he gets up from the banquet and goes to the garden without think before making your decision. Matthew Henry says: "The king was angry, those who do things according to their own will in the end attract for themselves a self-censorship after what happened.
We need to pause before making any decision, control our spirit, and thus demonstrate that we are governed by reason. "
We demonstrate wisdom when we "breathe" before responding to someone, when we are wise, when we put ourselves in someone else's shoes before reacting against them.
Every day there are many opportunities for us to follow our own impulses or to demonstrate true wisdom, which comes from the Lord, reflecting in rational attitudes and guided by the Word of God. The task of being prudent is not easy, but some practices can help us.
First and foremost: Place yourself in a humble position before the Lord and ask Him to help you in your struggle against the sin of lack of self-control. He is wisdom itself, and therefore his main source of guidance for all his actions, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God" (James 1: 5).
Another suggestion, but one that is directly associated with the first one, is to have the Word of God always in your memory. The memory or memorization of biblical texts serve as alerts during the day to stay attentive to our actions. In the closet, in the mirror, hear edifying songs, do what is within your reach so that the Word of God is in your heart and mind.
"I have hidden his word in my heart so as not to sin against you" (Psalm 119: 11).
The third and final clue goes to that moment when you did the wrong thing and regretted the time or a time afterwards. If what you have achieved only your own life, the first step is to ask God for forgiveness for the wrong attitude and to hand over your future, knowing that you want it to come as a consequence will happen for your own good. But if you have done something that has come to another person, in addition to asking God for forgiveness, look for a way to reconcile with her or to repair her error. Each case is a case, but asking for forgiveness is always the first step.
Prudent attitudes reveal a fearful heart to God, demonstrate humility (Mq 6: 8, Ps 111: 10) by considering that their own opinions / decisions are not the best, and that only He knows what is best for us. Acting with wisdom reveals Christ for people who do not know him, and edifies the Church instead of destroying it.
How not to crave every day to be prudent?
"The wise of heart is called prudent, and the sweetness of expression increases knowledge"
Proverbs 16:21)
