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Wisdom is fundamental for us to know how to navigate in different stages and situations in life. Without wisdom, we may not know what to do, when to do it, what to say, and the right time to say it. Wisdom is, therefore, the ability to differentiate right and wrong, and it enables us to make the right choices in life.
That means that without it, our lives may be less effective and inconsequential. We all have heard the phrase that knowledge is power, but using that power the right way or putting that knowledge into the right actions, will require us to have wisdom. Intelligence and education may help us amass wealth and fame, but wisdom enables us to better relationships with other people and gains more favor from God.
The wisdom from God is powerful, and we all need it as believers and followers of Christ. Godly wisdom is that powerful that it makes us stronger than ten rulers in a city when we have it (Ecclesiastes 7:19). When we have wisdom as believers, it will help us preserve our lives (Ecclesiastes 7:12). The other reason why we need Godly wisdom is that we may not know how some of our actions may influence our subsequent actions or our relationships with other people, especially when we act in folly. The good thing is that God is all-knowing, and He sees far much than we can see, and that’s why we should do everything with the wisdom that He has given us through his word. The Bible reminds us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom according to Psalms 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10.
We can know whether we have wisdom by looking at our character and behaviors.
The Bible gives descriptions of the wise, and we as believers are supposed to use the Bible as our reference. For instance, according to James 3:13-18, a person who has gotten Godly wisdom honors the people around him, remains humble, selfless, pure, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and sincere. When we gain Godly wisdom, we can hold our tongues and get control of the words from our mouths.
We do not say everything that comes into our minds, and hence we do not put ourselves in trouble, unlike the fools who bring ruin to themselves through the words of their mouth (Proverbs 18:7).
Also, when we gain Godly wisdom, we always make the right decisions since we have allowed God to direct our paths and learned to depend on Him alone (Proverbs 3:5-6). Finally, by gaining Godly wisdom, we become slow to anger, and we can stay away from sin when we get angry because only the fools will be quick to anger and allow their anger to lead them to sin (Proverbs 14:29).
So what do you do as a believer when you realize that you have no Godly wisdom? As a follower of Jesus, gaining wisdom requires you to read the word of God, meditate on it, and obey what it says. That is because the word of God has the instructions that we need to follow to make the right decisions in our lives.
By studying the Bible, we learn many things, such as becoming a better spouse or parent, managing our anger, handling our enemies, and gaining a positive self-image, among many other lessons.
When we learn such important lessons and act on them, then we can consider ourselves wise. That is because according to Psalm 19:7, the word of God makes wise the simple. So also, one who hears the word of God and obeys it is wise, but the one who hears but does not obey is foolish (Matthew 7:24-27). That means that we should always put our foundation on the word of God and not on the ways of this world or our material possessions that will ultimately pass away.
We are also supposed to seek Godly wisdom through prayers. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). From that verse, we realize that the first step is to humbly acknowledge that we lack wisdom then seek it through prayers and in faith. Faith means that we have to believe fully in God and remain faithful in him by obeying his word. King Solomon asked for wisdom from God (1 Kings 3:7-9), and he became the wisest man on earth. His wisdom benefitted him and the people he was leading.
We can gain wisdom through the counsel of other people who have Godly wisdom. We get that from Proverbs 13:20, which says that we become wise by walking with the wise. Besides, we can also gain wisdom through the word of God. That means that we get wise by observing other creatures and other things of God around us.
For instance, we can get a lot of wisdom from the eagle or the lion. We can embrace storms of life and focus on our goals like an eagle or develop a leadership attitude like a lion. The Bible says, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise” (Proverbs 6:6).
A popular story is narrated where a wise woman went for a trip in the mountains and collected a precious stone. The following day as she was touring the area, she met another hungry traveler and needed something to eat. She opened her bag to get the hungry traveler some food, but the traveler saw the precious stone and asked for it instead. The wise woman gave him the stone without any hesitation.
After a few days, the traveler returned the precious stone to the wise woman despite its value. He told the woman that he wanted something more precious than that stone. He wanted to have that which had made the woman give the precious stone so generously.
It is without a doubt that the woman was indeed wise. Moreover, she had the traits of a wise person: selfless, merciful, considerate, and sincere. Besides, she had not placed her foundation on expensive materials of this world but probably on something else of better value. For that reason, she could give up the expensive stone so quickly that even the traveler became curious to learn from her wisdom.
In conclusion, as the son or daughter in the kingdom of God, keep growing in terms of wisdom. Seek God with a sincere heart, walk in obedience, and always pray for wisdom whenever you lack it. Avoid pride, arrogance, selfishness, hatred, envy, and other hindrances to wisdom, and the wisdom from above will always dwell in you.
Originally posted 2021-07-09 11:12:10.
