Worldly Wisdom Or God’s Wisdom (Part 4)

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17

When we are learning and proclaiming God’s wisdom, we will live this life with passion, truth and conviction tempered with gentleness and peace. When we live in wisdom, we yield to Christ, by uplifting him and pointing to his precepts. This way, we can live a Christ-filled life that is uplifting and contagious to others.

Without Christ and his wisdom within us, we have hearts full of rotten fruit, a Pandora’s Box that, when opened, distributes its sin onto others. Our human wisdom is devoid of real, authentic truth. Only Christ can bring us real wisdom, we must seek it by asking him for it. Recognizing real truth is essential for our maturity (Psalm 37; Proverbs 1:7; 3:5; Ephesians 5:5-20).

Why do we need wisdom? It should be obvious, as it creates healthy relationships and a contagious faith because it values people, honors God, has respect, honesty and pure intentions. As it uplifts Christ, it also edifies and empowers those who seek it (James 1:5-8).

When we exercise God’s wisdom we are bringing purity, God’s Truth is not to be mixed with anything else, especially the world’s wisdom. By pursuing his wisdom, we are being peaceable. We will not quarrel, give in to anger, be jealous or have an arrogant attitude. In his wisdom, we are gentle, fair, thoughtful and tolerant towards others.

Christ’s wisdom allows us to know justice and dispense justice and peace with Godly intentions, without selfish motivations.

In him, we will yield, listening, obeying and to being open to reason, so we can make allowances for other’s feelings, weaknesses and strengths. We will give grace, just as grace has been given to us. We are not to be critical while modeling God’s wisdom. We are aware of our own weakness and strengths, as yielding is the opposite of being stubborn.

In Christ’s wisdom, we will have mercy. We will be charitable, not stingy with compassion. His wisdom gets rid of cynicism and condescending attitudes, so we can be more like Christ. In his truth, we can be without partiality, fair and not deceiving, scheming or hypocritical, so we know when and where to draw the line between grace and rebuking the world’s wisdom.

How do we get this godly wisdom? James tells us in chapter 1 to ask God, realizing we are helpless and in great need of his perspective.

Remember, real godly wisdom is not just knowledge and information. It is practical, spiritual insight from God’s values, presented in God’s Word. Living in Christ’s wisdom is our response to all he has given us, so that we can please God in character and maturity as we lean on his truth.

Reflect for a moment on your day. Are you showing God’s wisdom or the world’s? Ask God to give you his perspective and wisdom for today.

Check out the previous post in this series here.