Being careful

You don't know how many times in the last few months I've been told to be careful. It's been drilled into my head so much, it's become the theme of every situation I'm in. That's probably relatable to most teenagers. Be careful who you hang out with, be careful who you go eat with, be careful how you spend your time, be careful about what classes you take, be careful with how you spend your money, be careful with what message you're sending people and what words you say, be careful, be careful, be careful. It sounds annoying sometimes, such a far cry from the narrative the world gives us. Society tells us to be wild, free, rebellious. Do whatever we want with whoever we want whenever we want. Compared to that, being careful doesn't sound so bad. And it's not....

.....But is there a danger to being too careful?




What if there's a point to what society tells us we should do? I'm here to suggest that being careful isn't the solution we're looking for.

Yes, I used the word "solution" there, which implies there is a problem that needs to be solved. Let's get to the heart of that problem so that we can find what the right solution would be. Teenagers do crazy stuff. Actually, people in general do crazy stuff, but teenagers have the inexperience that goads them to try new things and just enough independence to choose whether or not to do it. Sometimes that's a recipe for disaster, but it is always a catalyst for learning. So we must learn how to use our independence, and often that comes from experience.....from not being careful. The people in our life who want us to learn the easy way, who want to prevent us from getting hurt, who want to protect us, who want to guide us, they tell us to be careful.

The problem that needs to be solved is bad decisions that result in harm to ourselves, our futures, or others.

Is the solution being careful? I think not. Careful is marked by wary caution, attentive concern and solicitude, or serious attention. And while ideally you want to be cautious about the big life choices you make, not all little things in life need that much devoted attention. My point is that we should take risks. We should live an exciting life and not be afraid to take a leap of faith. No matter how cautious and careful you are, life will always have some uncertainty. Being too careful will leave you in a constant state of worrying about unknowns. If you know me, that sentence describes me pretty well. I have a hard time relaxing and enjoying the moment because I'm too busy thinking about consequences or the future or my next step. When one of my friends pointed this out to me, I resolved to do better at enjoying the little things and quieting the voice of fear in my head so that I could take risks and have fun. Being careful was driving me crazy. This theme that had repeated itself through every situation was haunting me and preventing me from enjoying each moment, even when it was perfectly alright for me to relax. Be careful isn't the solution.

But neither is the epitome of what society advises us to do. "Be wild" can have just as many, if not more, problems then "be careful" does. The world tells us to listen to our crazy impulses and throw caution to the winds. When I say that we should take risks and have fun I don't suggest that caution has no place in our decisions. I think that there's two extremes and we need to know where to draw the line between the two. We shouldn't be consumed with worry nor should we rebel against every voice of reason in our lives.

I believe we can draw that line at wisdom.

Instead of being careful, lets try being wise. Wisdom begins and ends with the fear of the Lord. It isn’t a fear of being hit by lightning or fear of being struck dead, it isn't blind terror or panic, it isn't anxiety and constant worry. Fearing God is a deep, abiding, holy reverence and respect for the Lord and for His Word. Wisdom implies an obedience to God and the figures of authority that He has placed over you. We should make wise decisions and act in ways that line up with God's commands. What's the difference between being wise and being careful? Being careful implies always being wary, constantly acting with caution, and consistently checking your actions. Being wise implies that as long as you are in certain boundaries, you can relax. Both options provide a solution to the issue of bad decisions, and yet wisdom allows a level of enjoyment that being careful can't provide.

Sometimes we are faced with two equally Biblical options and yet stress out way too much over which one to choose. As long as we are confident we are acting within God's will, we can have fun, relax, and stop freaking out about being careful. 

Wisdom must be our foundation for decisions, all other guidelines have the potential to cause anxiety or bad decisions. I'm not saying that we should never be careful, just that being careful isn't the solution we should be looking for. People doing crazy things is a problem, and maybe being told to "be careful" does help sometimes. But we are told in Proverbs 3:15, ""Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her." There is a reward for choosing to be wise. Let's choose wisdom which has a known reward over being careful.