Is Gullible a Character Defect?

Gullible. Easily duped. Easily taken in. Unworldly. Stupid. Foolish. Trustful. Unsuspecting. Gullible. Is it a character defect? Maybe it depends on what your IQ is. Reckon?

Galatians 3:2-5 and I Chronicles 21:8.

Yeah. Gullibility is a character defect. And I own it. One of the mp3 AA speakers I listen to at night talks about realizing one year that the financial portfolios he managed for other people all did substantially better than his own. On analysis he realized he did things with his money that he wouldn't think of letting his clients do, for he was an expert and understood it. Yeah. And I can and do write contracts for other people, just forget to do it for me. I insist on clear terms for other people. I read people well in situations where I have no stake, almost instantly and with an accuracy that jolts me sometimes. Then I put my own faith in people I've been warned about because I "know them." Or at least I believe I do, and hey, I'm an intelligent woman, and it benefits me. I won't get burned. No. I won't. "Get burned" is passive. It seems that instead, I actively burn myself. Or I did.

So what's the opposite of gullible? If we are to practice the opposite of our character traits to fill the void when God removes them, what's the opposite of this one? Sophisticated? Wary? Suggestions include astute, discerning, knowledgeable, perceptive, suspicious, unbelieving, untrusting, wise and shrewd. Maybe the best is skeptical. No. It's perceptive. That's what I need to practice. That and prayer. And I've languished way too long without an effective sponsor. I need a sponsor. And that's my assignment to myself. Thanks for listening.