The popular idea is: “You’ll learn when you make enough mistakes.” But scripture paints a different picture. Jehovah does not want us bruised and broken before we gain wisdom. He urges us to listen, to be taught, to avoid needless pain.

“By means of your orders I behave with understanding. That is why I hate every false path” (Psalm 119:104, NWT).

Here the psalmist didn’t say, I learned by crashing into sin again and again. He said, I learned because I listened to Jehovah’s orders.

Proverbs echoes the same: “The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences” (Proverbs 22:3, NWT). Shrewdness — listening ahead of time — spares us from scars.

So while mistakes can teach, Jehovah gives something gentler: instruction before the fall. Parents warn children not to touch a hot stove, not because they want them to learn by burning their hand, but because they love them enough to spare them that pain. Jehovah is the perfect Father.

Think of school pressure. A teen may feel the urge to cheat on an exam, telling himself, If I get caught, I’ll learn my lesson. But Jehovah has already whispered through His Word: “Maintain your integrity.” The teen doesn’t need to destroy his record to learn honesty — he can listen first, and avoid the regret.

Think of marriage. A spouse might say something harsh in anger, later sighing, At least I learned not to do it again. But Jehovah had already taught: “Love is patient and kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4, NWT). His guidance can save us from the ache in our chest after words we cannot take back.

So yes, mistakes can shape us. But Jehovah prefers to shield us. What if — instead of stumbling first — we leaned more quickly into His voice? What if our hearts became so tender that a quiet word in scripture corrected us, long before an open wound had to?

He does not delight in scars. He delights in guarding us.

“The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself” (Proverbs 22:3, NWT).

Jehovah longs for that to be you.