WHAT KIND OF WISDOM DO YOU SHOW?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from Heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from Heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

James 3:13-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I don’t think I have ever met anyone in their right mind who didn’t wish to be wise in the decisions they made and the associated actions connected to those decisions. It’s true today and it was definitely an important matter in the Bible. In fact, there is a whole block of Old Testament books that are classified as wisdom literature. The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon all fall under this category.

In the New Testament, wisdom is often found addresses in warnings as Christian churches were often established in places where a premium was put on human philosophers such as in Corinth where the issue was so prominent that we found Paul writing these words:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (Isaiah 29:14)

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18-24

Here we find that true wisdom is only found through one believing in Christ Jesus for through Him, the Christian receives both the power and wisdom of God Himself, the only One who is perfect in all things to include the matter of wisdom. In fact, the Word we just looked at affirms that God causes the wisdom of the world to be reduced to sheer foolishness.

With this truth as a backdrop, we move to another New Testament author who touched on the matter of wisdom as he wrote to his fellow Hebrew Christians. Here’s what we find from James, the brother of Jesus, as he shares this in the third chapter of his letter:

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from Heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from Heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Vv. 13-17

Here we find the scriptures teaching us that there are only two categories of wisdom: the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God (aka the wisdom that “comes from Heaven”. The two sources of wisdom are easily definable through the behavior of those who are disciples of it.

Those who subscribe to worldly wisdom will be recognized through their willingness to “harbor bitter envy” and/or “selfish ambition in their hearts”. These character qualities will only lead to “disorder and every evil practice” being carried out. Their behavior will be characterized as “earthly, unspiritual”, and “demonic” as wisdom of the world only comes through Satan, the chief Devil and father of all lies and deceit.

Conversely, the Christian believer who has received the Holy Spirit and committed themselves to live as Jesus did, seeking to always be obedient to God’s will and direction, will be easily identified by the following traits. They will be:

- purity

- peace-loving

- considerate

- submissive

- full of mercy

- a bearer of good fruit, namely the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

- impartial

and finally,  

- sincere

Note that these attributes are only found in someone who has received, accepted, and adopted the “wisdom that comes from Heaven”, God’s wisdom.

So all this begs some questions that are associated with the title of today’s message. For when someone looks at you and the way you live...

What kind of wisdom do you show?

Does your behavior reflect that you follow the wisdom of the world or the true wisdom of the Lord?

If the scriptures are convicting you today because you have fallen into the trap that so many other do, a trap laid by the enemy to get you to behave in ways that are counter to what the Lord desires, then know today can be the day that you can change, the day when you can repent of your sinfulness and dedicate yourself to the Lord who not only saves you but shares His power and wisdom with you.

To be in Christ is to gain the same wisdom of the Father that He did. My prayer today that this is the wisdom that will represent your life and all that you do to honor and glorify the Lord who grants it to you.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.