Psalms 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.
James 3: 13 -18
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The Good and the Bad
I’d like to think that I am wise and full of discernment, but when I sin and make a bad decision, I am reminded that I’m not there yet. According to James, I am to show my wisdom by my good behavior and deeds. Oops! This isn't always true of me. In case you were wondering, I do unwise things sometimes and my behavior doesn't line up with my knowledge. Knowledge is information. We can choose to gain great knowledge or live without it. When I am making a big purchase, I've learned that the informed consumer is the best one. If I know all about the product, I can make an informed decision and be satisfied that I made the best choice possible. Making that knowledgeable decision based on the information I acquired is called wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the knowledge I have. Yet good wisdom doesn't just come naturally does it? As I read James 3, it says there is wisdom that is not good and not from above. This kind of earthly wisdom does not have to be learned or sought after. Unfortunately it comes pretty natural to us. This is why God calls it earthly and natural.
There is so much packed in those verses in James. The first thing I want to bring to our attention is the fact that we show our good behavior in the gentleness of wisdom. What exactly does gentleness of wisdom mean? It suggests that wisdom is not harsh and arrogant. Have you ever known someone that maybe wise and yet the way they choose to act on their wisdom isn't so sweet? Being gentle is being humble. Look at the next verse. As I read this passage over and over I get the idea that if we are bitter and selfish, it’s very difficult to have gentleness of wisdom. He says that bad or natural wisdom is bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogant, and untruthful. Personally I wouldn't call any of these wise, but I think we get his meaning. Look how else he describes this wisdom. It is earthly, natural, and demonic. Wow! It makes me shudder to think that sometimes I act out of bitterness or arrogance and I’m living out demonic and earthly wisdom. We act out of what we know and what we believe. The good news is that we can change what we know and what we believe.
The next few verses we have heavenly and earthly wisdom compared. I made it into a list and I think it gives us a good picture of how they play it out in our lives. I've taken this list straight from the passage.
Heavenly Wisdom: Earthly Wisdom:
Gentle Bitter
Order Jealous
Pure Selfish
Peaceable Arrogant
Reasonable Untruthful
Merciful Disorder
Good fruits Unfaithful
Unwavering
Without hypocrisy
Do you know notice anything about the heavenly list? It is very similar to the fruits of the Spirit that is mentioned in Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” As a believer, we already have the Spirit of God living inside of us therefore we have all these fruits in us to make wise choices from. We have to practice through the Holy Spirit to be loving, peaceful, gentle and so forth. It’s acting out our wisdom in gentleness. There is no way we can do this without the spirit of God. Our flesh is extremely strong and will carry out what we naturally know whenever it can. I think you would agree with me.
Behavior can be adjusted and modified. When we decide to practice out the Heavenly wisdom, we are being wise and understanding as God desires us to be. I mentioned earlier that wisdom is knowing what to do with the knowledge we have. We must strive to gain godly knowledge. This comes straight from God’s Word. If we want to be wise, it’s very simple. Read the Bible, do what it says, and share it with others. Living out the Christian life is not complicated and not rocket science; it’s just a matter of committing our lives to God and then carrying out that commitment. I am not naïve, I know that it’s harder than it actually sounds, but sometimes we make it more intense than it needs to be. When we are not sure, here is what James encourages us to do:
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5-6)
God is more than ready to help us, but we just need to ask Him in faith. I want to make decisions that are wise and glorify God. I am fully aware that I am not able to make those wise decisions without His help and His heavenly wisdom. I must seek that wisdom in the Bible and ask for it in prayer. Communion with God is where I grow in wisdom. If the beginning of wisdom really starts with God, then why would we go seek it anywhere else?
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 2:6
For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Ecclesiastes 7:12
For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.
