The greatest enemy of mankind is not sin, or Satan, it is IGNORANCE. “
And fools hate knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:22.)
Some seven years ago, I came to the realization that there is nobody who does not desire greatness, and success in life. However, I wondered why many people were not succeeding as they desired. My discovery made me go in search for the knowledge on how to personally avoid the misery and struggle that millions suffer.
Because of the misery, and frustration I sense in people, I established a principle that my life has long been operated by, and that principle is: more important than whatever I desire to achieve in life, is in knowing HOW to achieve my desires. My focus must be on how to achieve my desires than what I desire to achieve. I don’t care so much about succeeding, as I care about knowing how to succeed. If I thought about success, perhaps once in a while, but what has always occupied my mind as regards success, and greatness in life is the acquisition of relevant and adequate knowledge on how to become truly great, and successful.
I remember while in my undergraduate levels, I came to the realization that if I don’t get to know how to succeed, I would certainly fail, and be poor like those around me, and I also discovered that the earlier I started the journey toward greatness, the best, for me. Due to my inability to afford buying books then, I began to borrow success and prosperity related books such as “understanding financial prosperity” by Bishop David Oyedepo and “Be the best”, by Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo. Among the borrowed books was the book by Stephen.R.Covey, titled, “Seven habits of highly effective teens”, and guess what I did with those books? I wrote the three books word for word in two big note books. I did all this because of my passion for relevant knowledge and understanding. I discovered long before now that my limitation in life is my ignorance. Life was given to be enjoyed, but what happens when we don’t know how to get the juice out of life?
LIFE IS FAIR
Life is fair. You only get out of life what you demand from life. Life is full of the good and the evil. However, the side of life we experience is a function of how knowledgeable and wise we deal with life. Life can be likened to a piano. You would agree with me that this musical instrument has two primary capacities; the first is to produce a pleasant and melodious sound, and the second is the capacity to produce an unpleasant and unharmonious sound.
When a skillful, professional pianist mounts the piano, by his knowledge, and expertise brings out of the piano, the pleasant sound inside it. And when the same instrument is played by an unskilled amateur, by his lack of knowledge, and limited expertise brings out of the piano, the unpleasant sound inside it.
The problem is not with the piano. It really has no final say as to what sound it produces; its production is a function of who plays it. If a knowledgeable person plays it, it releases the capacity for good sound, and if an ignorant person plays it, it releases the bad sound. This is exactly how life functions.
Life, as I said, can be good or evil. Good for some and evil for others, but I want you to know that God is fair too. He does not love any, more than He does others. Our knowledge and understanding on how we deal with life determines the side of life we experience—good or evil.
Ignorance is the root cause of all the problems and misfortunes that mankind faces. When you know the principles that govern a pleasant and happy life, and you apply them adequately, you will begin to experience what those around you have lived all their lives looking for. You need knowledge in whatever areas of your life you are not doing well in; is it in your finances, your marriage, your academics, your relationships, your health, your spiritual life, your ministry, your career, or your business. For in whatever aspect of life that you are failing, your failure is a pointer to your ignorance on how well to succeed in those aspects of life.
There are certain things you don’t know about the areas of life you are frustrated about; If only you would connect to the right knowledge and revelation in those areas, you would certainly begin to experience a turn-around. This book is a knowledge book, to impact you with the knowledge and understanding you would need for a truly successful and relevant lifestyle.
When you don’t know, you groan. You will never grow beyond what you know. Your knowledge places a limit on how high you can fly, and how far you can go in life. Knowledge is so vital to life that, the day you stop knowing- you start dying. This is the reason I encourage young people to embrace knowledge in whatever areas they desire happiness and success.
Everyone desires the best of life, but only the few who have regard for knowledge know how to translate their desires into physical realities. Knowledge doesn’t come to a man, it must be sought after. “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7) You cannot be wise without knowledge. “Wise people store up knowledge.” (Proverbs 10:14a). Remember, wisdom is the principal thing
THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF IGNORANCE
This dilemma of ignorance has been exposed all over the scriptures, and it is important that you know them, so that you can avoid them.
In (Hosea 4:6a), God made an unbelievable statement about His own personal chosen people. He said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” God admitted that regardless of how much He loved His chosen people, there was one thing that has the capacity to sabotage the benefits of His love for their lives—their ignorance. They were not lacking strength, or fighting skills. They were not lacking a powerful God. They were not in need of sophisticated weapons. They only lacked the ‘HOW’ to acquire what they desired. They had uncommon privileges, and opportunities, but they didn’t know how to maximize them. The devil delights in your ignorance. His mission as revealed by our Lord Jesus, in (John 10:10), is to steal, to kill and to destroy. The devil is at rest, and certain that he would succeed, because he knows that many will never embrace knowledge. What kills a man is not so much as what he knows, as against what he doesn’t know. Your Ignorance therefore qualifies you for destruction.
God said in (Isaiah 5:13), “My people are gone into captivity because they lack knowledge.” Captivity symbolizes imprisonment, bondage and slavery. When you become a captive, your possessions are taken away. When you become a captive, your enjoyment ceases. When you become a captive, you become a product of the evil people’s choice. When you become a captive, you lose your freedom of choice, of movement, of what to eat, of what to wear and of speech; you lose your voice of influence and significance. Woe to ignorance. Ignorance ignores your freedom to become your true self. Ignorance imprisons your manifestation. Ignorance limits your limitless privileges, and opportunities. Your ignorance is your limitation. Ignorance makes you a slave to your servant—MONEY. When you live your life working and looking for money instead of working for the fulfillment of your assignment which makes money look for you, it is proof of your ignorance. Ignorance therefore handicaps your potential possibilities.
In (Psalm 82:5-6), God spoke again, saying, “They know not, nor do they understand; they walk in darkness; and all the foundations of the earth are unstable. I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”
These words are strong words. God says you are a god like Him; he says, you are His child, but your ignorance on how to become all He has planned for you to be will kill you and destroy your glorious destiny. Darkness, in that scripture symbolizes ignorance. When you are ignorant, you are in darkness. And when you are in darkness, the first thing that happens to you is that you begin to FEAR. The second thing that happens is that you will be CONFUSED AND UNCERTAIN. The third thing that happens to a person walking in darkness is that such person takes WRONG STEPS, AND DECISIONS. The fourth thing that happens is that such person STUMBLES, AND FALLS. And lastly when such person falls, such incurs INJURIES. And when the injuries sustained are not immediately and adequately cured, it causes DEATH. Ignorance is the greatest killer of destinies. It has killed more men, and women, boy, and girl than Malaria and HIV/AIDS will ever beat. You cannot be knowledgeable and be in darkness. Ignorance births instability. Ignorance destroys reputations, and shatters potentials. For what you are ignorant of, you lose. Are we thinking alike? Ignorance is therefore a destroyer of great destinies. Beware!
“The labour of the fools wearies them, because ‘THEY DO NOT EVEN KNOW HOW’ to go to the city!” (Ecclesiastes 10:15, Emphasis Mine).
How contrary it sounds to call someone who is laboring, a fool! ‘Working hard’ is what an honest fool engages in, but ‘working smart’ is what knowledgeable people engage in. Solomon taught us that knowing the (HOW)—the right way to get things done is more important than knowing the (WHAT)—the right things you want done. One of my greatest desires aside knowing what God has made available for me in Christ is to know how to receive, and enjoy them. And this understanding has made me fall-in-love with the acquisition of relevant, and adequate knowledge in every area I desire success, and productivity. Non-productivity in every aspect of life is directly proportional to your lack of knowledge in those areas of life. You don’t labour loss or in vain, when you are working with relevant and adequate knowledge. The lesson here is that, you should never embark on a project or assignment in which you lack relevant and adequate knowledge. And if you must pursue any project or assignment, you should go for the relevant and adequate knowledge. Ignorance therefore saps your strength and makes you unproductive.
Ignorance breeds fear. Darkness is synonymous to ignorance, and you can’t be bold and confident in darkness. When you walk in darkness, I mean in ignorance, you don’t just take risk; you become unnecessarily careful, so you don’t dash your foot against something hurting.
The greatest ignorance of mankind is the ignorance of GOD and his TRUE PURPOSE
