I love variety and creativity, but when it comes to certain things, we just need to run the play as drawn up. 

I’m still struggling to teach math to a young high-schooler, and I’ve never seen such creative rule inventing! We were working through a problem involving exponents, and every time he tried it, he invented a different rule! Variety?

On a geometry problem I had told him explicitly how to get started and what mathematical properties to use. He immediately went in a different direction. “Why didn’t you follow the guidance I gave you?” “I was trying a creative approach.” It was creative all right, involving properties of parallel lines when there were no parallel lines in the figure!

Many families have at least one kid whose motto is, “But I want to do it my way.” It reminds me of the fellow I had in Bible study years ago. A relatively young believer, his favorite phrase was, “But I thought…” 

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14.12, NIV)

Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. (Proverbs 8.11, 12, NIV)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2.15, NIV)