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The Difference Between Knowledge and Wisdom.
By Muchangke.

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We live in an age that values knowledge more
and more, yet seems to speak less

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and less about wisdom.

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We want our children to attend the best
schools, earn the highest degrees,

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and study the most sought-after fields. We
hope they understand technology,

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finance,

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management, and artificial intelligence.
Ideally, we want them to be capable in

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almost everything.

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As a result, degrees become more advanced,
résumés more impressive, and minds

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more crowded with information.

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But there is one question we rarely stop to
ask seriously: Does having

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knowledge necessarily

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mean having wisdom? Several cases I have come
across recently have caused me to

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think more

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deeply about this question. 1. A 5,000-Yuan
Prize Revealed Something Worth Far

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More Than 5,000 Yuan.

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Not long ago, an incident at Shanghai Jiao
Tong University attracted public

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attention,

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even though at first glance it did not seem
particularly serious. Two students

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entered a competition as a team. One student
was mainly responsible for the

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core technical work,

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while another student, surnamed Fan, handled
matters such as registration and

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presentation.

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The team eventually won a prize of 5,000 yuan.
The problem began with the

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distribution of that money.

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According to information later released by the
university, Fan engaged in

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dishonest conduct

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during the distribution of the prize money,
including falsifying a payment

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record and

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concealing the actual amount of the award.
After the matter came to light, the

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university imposed

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disciplinary action. A young person capable of
gaining admission to Shanghai Jiao

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Tong University

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is certainly not lacking in knowledge. He knew
how to register for a

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competition,

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how to participate, how to prepare materials,
and even how to use modern

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technology to produce

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a record that might appear convincing enough
to escape scrutiny. In one sense,

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all of these are

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forms of" knowledge." But knowing how to do
something skillfully is not the same

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as knowing whether it

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should be done at all. That is one of the most
fundamental differences between

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knowledge and

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wisdom. Knowledge asks," Can I do this?"
Wisdom asks," Should I do this?"

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Knowledge is concerned

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with methods; wisdom is concerned with
direction. Knowledge can help a person

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move quickly.

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Wisdom determines where that person is
actually going. If the direction is

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wrong,

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the faster you travel, the farther you may end
up from your destination.

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2.200 Yuan and 28 Yuan: Money Is Not What Is
Truly Expensive. Two other stories

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have also

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circulated online. One story tells of a young
person who had just completed a

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master's degree

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and secured a teaching position. He reportedly
sold a gaming account for 2,200

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yuan, then later

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used the account-recovery mechanism to take it
back. What may have seemed like"

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just a little

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more than two thousand yuan" eventually cost
him far more because of legal and

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credibility issues.

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Another online story is even more sobering. It
is said that a well-educated

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young white-collar

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worker with a decent income received a food
delivery worth only a few dozen

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yuan, then complained that

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the delivery rider had failed to deliver the
order and obtained a refund from

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the platform.

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The specific details of these online stories
may not all have been fully

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verified through

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authoritative sources, so there is no need for
us to rush to judgment about the

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individuals involved.

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But the question raised by these stories is
very real: If someone is willing to

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sell his integrity

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for 2,200 yuan— or even 28 yuan— then what is
truly expensive?

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The real issue has never been 5,000 yuan,
2,200 yuan, or 28 yuan. The real issue

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is this: When

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personal gain is placed in front of me, is
there a line in my heart that I

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refuse to cross? If

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there is no such line, today it may be 28
yuan. Tomorrow it may be 2,800. One

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day it may be 280,000.

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Character rarely collapses all at once in some
dramatic, earth-shattering moment.

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More often, it is formed— or eroded— through
one small and seemingly insignificant

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choice after

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another. Today, I take a small advantage.
Tomorrow, I tell a small lie. The next

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day, I tell myself,"

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No one will know anyway." Later, I reassure
myself," Everybody does it." Over time,

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a person does not

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suddenly lose integrity. He sells it little by
little through countless small

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decisions.

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That is why Jesus says in Luke 16: 10:" He
that is faithful in that which is

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least

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is faithful also in much: and he that is
unjust in the least is unjust also in

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much."

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The Bible understands human nature remarkably
well. Big things are often simply

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small things

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magnified. The kind of person you are when 28
yuan is at stake may very well be

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the kind of

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person you remain when 28 million yuan is at
stake. 3. Knowledge Is Knowing

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About Things;

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Wisdom Is Knowing How to Live. So what exactly
is knowledge, and what is wisdom?

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Simply put,

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knowledge is our understanding of things. If
you understand physics, you

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possess knowledge of physics.

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If you understand medicine, you possess
medical knowledge. If you understand

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law, you possess

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legal knowledge. If you understand computers,
you possess technical knowledge.

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To a considerable

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degree, an academic degree demonstrates that a
person has received systematic

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training in a

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particular field of knowledge. We should
therefore respect knowledge, and we

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should certainly encourage

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our children to study diligently. The
Christian faith has never been opposed to

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knowledge.

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The problem is this: Knowledge is not wisdom.
A person may hold a doctorate and

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still not

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know how to treat others. A person may know
the law inside and out while

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constantly searching for

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loopholes. A person may study the complexities
of human nature and yet fail to

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deal honestly with

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the people closest to him. A person may even
be clever enough to design an

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elaborate deception,

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yet lack the wisdom to realize that he is
destroying something far more

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valuable than money.

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Wisdom does not merely answer the question,"
What is this?" Wisdom asks: How

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should I live?

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How should I treat money? How should I respond
to personal gain? How should I

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treat people who

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are weaker than I am? How should I handle
relationships? What should I choose

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when no

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one is watching? If lying could benefit me,
should I still tell the truth? If

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taking advantage of

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someone brings no immediate punishment, will I
still hold to my principles? A

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degree may not

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answer these questions. Yet these are the
questions that ultimately shape the

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kind of person we become.

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4. Why Does Wisdom Begin with" Fear"? Proverbs
9: 10 says:" The fear of the LORD

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is the beginning of

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wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is
understanding." This is profoundly

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important. The Bible does not

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say," Having more knowledge is the beginning
of wisdom." It does not say," A higher

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degree is the

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beginning of wisdom." It does not even say,"
Intelligence is the beginning of

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wisdom." It says:

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The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom. Why? Because true wisdom

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begins not by resolving the

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relationship between a person and knowledge,
but the relationship between a

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person and God.

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Why would someone choose honesty when no one
is watching? Why refuse to take

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advantage of an

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opportunity when it would be easy to do so?
Why refuse to bully, exploit, or trample

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on someone

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weaker? Because that person knows: People may
not see, but God sees. That is

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what it means to fear God.

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The fear of God does not mean living in terror
that God is waiting for an

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opportunity to punish us.

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It means recognizing that above my desires
there is God; above my interests

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there is truth; and

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above my personal choices there remains a
standard of right and wrong. I am not

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the final judge of

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my own life. Therefore, I cannot say," I want
it, so I have the right to take it."

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I cannot say," No one

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knows, so it does not matter." I cannot say,"
Everyone else does it, so it must be

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right." To fear God

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is to know that even where human eyes cannot
see, there is still a line I must

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not cross. 5. Our

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Relationship with God Flows into Our
Relationships with Others. This is also

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why the Bible binds love

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for God and love for others so closely
together. When our relationship with God

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is rightly ordered,

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it gradually transforms the way we relate to
other people. A person who truly

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fears God

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learns to be honest because God is true. He
learns to keep his word because God

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is faithful.

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He learns mercy because God has shown mercy to
us. He learns self-denial

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because Christ

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first gave Himself for us. He learns not to
covet what belongs to others

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because he understands

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that the true value of life is not measured by
how much one possesses. Conversely,

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when reverence

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for God disappears, intelligence can easily
turn into calculation, ability into

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a tool of self-interest,

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and knowledge into a means of satisfying
desire. That is why greater

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intelligence can sometimes

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make a person more dangerous rather than less.
If a character cannot govern

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ability,

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then greater ability may simply produce
greater damage. Knowledge is like the

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engine of a car.

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Wisdom is like the steering wheel and the
brakes. There is nothing to celebrate

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about an engine

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becoming more and more powerful if the car has
neither steering nor brakes.

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6. What Are We Really Trying to Give Our
Children? Parents today may need to

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reconsider a very

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important question: What kind of people are we
actually trying to raise our

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children to become?

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Of course we hope they will attend good
universities. Of course we want them to

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have knowledge, competence, professional
skills, and a stable income. There is

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nothing wrong with

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any of that. But if a child can solve the most
complicated mathematics problem

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yet does not

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understand honesty; if he can enter the best
university yet does not know the

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fear of God;

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if he can earn a great deal of money yet does
not know that some money should

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never be earned;

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if he knows how to defeat others but not how
to love them; then something

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essential is still missing

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from our education. I increasingly believe
that every person has at least four

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accounts in life:

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a knowledge account, an ability account, a
credibility account, and a character

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account.

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The first two may help you open a door. The
last two determine whether people

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will want you to

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remain inside. A degree may help someone
obtain a first job, but credibility

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determines whether

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others will continue entrusting responsibility
to that person. Intelligence

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may help someone seize

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an opportunity, but character determines
whether that opportunity will

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eventually be destroyed

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by his own hands. So I want to say something
to our children and to every

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young person:

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My child, I do not require you to become
someone who stands above everyone else.

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But I hope you will become someone others can
trust. You may never have a dazzling

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academic record.

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You may never hold an enviable position. You
may even live an ordinary life

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from beginning to end.

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But do not lose your integrity for 5,000 yuan.
Do not cross a moral boundary

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for 2,200 yuan.

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And do not let your conscience become cheaper
and cheaper for the sake of 28

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yuan.

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There are things in this world that, once
lost, cannot be bought back at any

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price.

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They include your credibility, your
conscience, your character, and the trust

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others place in you.

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Conclusion: The Diploma That Really Matters.
We live in an age of exploding

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knowledge.

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Artificial intelligence cannot give us, within
seconds, information that once

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might have taken a

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person years to acquire. The children of the
future will almost certainly know

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more than we do.

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Yet what will truly be scarce in the future
may not be knowledge at all. It

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may be wisdom.

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Knowledge teaches us how the world works.
Wisdom teaches us how we ought to

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live in that world.

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Knowledge can be gained from books. Skills can
be developed through training.

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Degrees can be earned

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through examinations. But the Bible tells us:"
The fear of the LORD is the

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beginning of wisdom."

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True education, therefore, is not merely about
putting knowledge into the mind.

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It is also about putting reverence for God
into the heart.

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When a person truly fears God, he begins to
understand what may be done and

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what must not

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be done; what may be taken and what must never
be taken; when he must remain

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faithful even

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if no one is watching; and when he must refuse
to sell his conscience even if

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doing so costs him

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something. Five thousand yuan is not much. Two
thousand two hundred yuan is not a fortune.

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Twenty-eight yuan is almost insignificant. And
yet it is precisely in such" small things"

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that a person

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writes down, choice by choice, who he really
is. A diploma is the certificate a

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school gives you.

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Character is the certificate life gives you.
And true wisdom is not about how

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much you know,

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how much you possess, or even how intelligent
you are. True wisdom is this:

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when the world tells you,"

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As long as you do not get caught, it is fine,"
there is still a voice within you

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that says:

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No. I cannot do this. Because I fear God. And
because I know—

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Some advantages must never be taken, no matter
how tempting. Some lines must

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never be crossed,

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no matter the cost. And some things, once
lost, cannot be recovered by even the

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highest degree in the world.