Do you know someone who is a wealth of information on every subject and willing to opine their views freely whether asked for or not? Sometimes we call such a person a “know it all” and we don’t mean that as a compliment.

My brother was recently recounting a conversation with a friend who knows a lot about bicycle maintenance. When Dan mentioned his bicycle had been in the shop, the friend quizzed him on the work and quickly let him know that he had made bad choices and had let the shop get away with shoddy work.

“The thing is, even if he is right, I was irritated that he was so bossy. If I make a mistake, I’d rather find that out myself rather than have my nose shoved in it.” I told him I knew what he meant. Too much pushing from another person actually pushes us in the other direction.

This made me think of the spiritual implications of “preaching” to someone whom we desperately want to “see the light.” When we are sure we are right we sometimes push – and end up pushing them farther away from God.

Proverbs 15:2 says; “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” Now there’s the trick: to use the knowledge we have rightly. Though we may know the truth, wisdom tells us how and when to share it. And what is real wisdom? I think it is the realization that there is only one real “know it all”: God. The rest of us are simply wannabies.