What is a fool?

My son is memorizing the following verse for school "He who walks with the wise men is wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed." Proverbs 13:20.

One morning as we are reciting it together, he ask me "Dad, what is a fool?" I thought that was the perfect question for this verse and it took me more than a split second to come up with an answer.

I said a fool is someone who does not care about what he does and does not care if he hurts others or himself. A fool may rob a bank and kill someone or get killed in the process. A fool may drink and drive and run into someone. A fool may burn someone's home down, and a family will be left without a home. A fool may cuss at someone, showing no respect, and gets beat up in the process.

But the ultimate fool is the devil. He was foolish enough to rebel against the ultimate authority, God. So the short answer is: a fool is someone who hates God and shows no respect for God's precepts. This person will rebel against all moral principles set by God. Heed the warning and don't hang out with fools.

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