Proverbs 26:12, 16

"Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him." (Proverbs 26:12 KJV)

"The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason." (Proverbs 26:14 KJV)

To be wise in your own conceit is to be wise in your own eyes and puffed up with foolish pride. I believe the reason why there is so little hope for one wise in his own conceit is there is neither humility nor willingness to listen to someone who is wiser. When you know it all, why should you have to listen to anyone else? In fact, there is no need to even listen to seven people who are right, when you think you are smarter than they are. I can remember having some discussions when I was younger where even though I knew I was wrong, I wouldn't back down. That's a really bad attitude to have.

Conceit is dangerous because it makes a person unteachable and uncorrectable. It is a roadblock set up across the path to wisdom and understanding. Have you ever met someone who told lots of stories about his accomplishments that just didn't seem to add up? Have you ever embellished things to make yourself look more impressive to others? These are symptomatic of the disease of conceit, as Bob Dylan calls it.

Rather than be wise in our own conceit, we need to be wise in the eyes of the Lord. We need to understand the way He sees things and use His standard as our measuring tool, rather than our own yardstick. We need to understand that whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself in the sight of the Lord will be lifted up.