Proven Wisdom By Living Right
James 3:13-18
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by
good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in
your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly,
sensual, demonic.
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil
thing are there.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
by those who make peace.
All of us desire to be wise. But what type of wisdom are we
pursuing? There is godly wisdom, and there is also worldly wisdom.
Godly wisdom is from God, and brings honor and glory to His name.
Godly wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and will result in
us living a holy and righteous life before God and man.
Psalm 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.
On the other hand, worldly wisdom does not honor and glorify God.
It is mainly focused in pleasing and promoting oneself.
As we are educated in schools, and even through social interactions
and daily communications, we have acquired some wisdom from the
world. We have become street-smart. We have gotten common knowledge
and skills to deal with problems like others do. We are able to play
the different roles required of us in our homes, communities,
churches and
working places. Some of us are able to survive, and even succeed
from time to time. But worldly wisdom teaches us to live just for
the moment, and for ourselves! Yes, for the now! There is no God,
and there are no eternal values! Thus, there is no need for accountability
and integrity!
But godly wisdom prepares us to live not just for ourselves, but for
God and others! It prepares us for eternity. It will bestow eternal
values and understanding to us who are living in a world that has
gone astray in a zillion ways!
How do we know whether we have true wisdom from God? How do we know
if we are truly wise, and have great and godly understanding?
We can only prove and show our wisdom by living right. We should do
good things without being proud. If we are wise, there is no reason
to brag and boast about our wisdom and greatness!
But if we are selfish and have bitter jealousy in our hearts, we
also have no reason to brag, and nothing to boast. What we brag and
boast are just lies to conceal the truth that we are essentially
selfish, self-centred and arrogant.
What we brag and boast may sound and seem like great wisdom and knowledge
to others. But that kind of wisdom does not come from God. That
wisdom comes from the world. It is not spiritual. It is from the
devil. Yes, it is earthly, sensual and demonic! Where there is
jealousy and selfishness, there will be confusion and every kind of
evils.
But godly wisdom is not the same as worldly wisdom. The wisdom that comes from God is firstly pure. It does not have
any ulterior motives and secret agendas. It does not promote self, and
debase others.
The wisdom from God is also peaceful, gentle, and willing to humble
ourselves before God and man. Godly wisdom is always ready to help
those who are troubled and needy, and to do good for others. Godly
wisdom is always fair and honest.
When we have godly wisdom, we will be able to live rightly before
God and man. We will receive the good fruit and result of our right
living. And we will be able to have the peace of God in a peaceful
way.
The Book of Proverbs is good for acquiring godly wisdom. It is
filled of practical instructions for living a life that pleases God.
All of us make mistakes. The wise will learn from their
mistakes, and will take careful and diligent steps to avoid repeating
them again. But the foolish will make the same mistakes over and over
again. The foolish will never learn their lessons, and will fall
into the same pits repetitively.
Who wrote the Book of Proverbs? The author who wrote the most for it
is King Solomon. He composed those wise sayings during his reign
from 970 to 930 BC.
Where did his wisdom come from? His wisdom came from the Lord as he
asked God for it. And God granted his desire!
2 Chronicles 1:10-12
10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go
out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great
people of Yours?”
11 Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and
you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your
enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom
and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I
have made you king—
12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I
will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings
have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the
like.”
King Solomon became famous for his great wisdom. However in his
later years, his heart was not right before God (1 Kings 11:1–11).
He turned away from God after getting great wisdom, abundant wealth and beautiful
women!
Solomon loved many women who were not from Israel. He loved the
daughter of the king of Egypt. He also loved women of the Moabites,
Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
But the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with people of
other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.”
Against the instructions and commandments of the Lord, Solomon fell
in love with these women. He had 700 wives who were from royal
families. He also had 300 slave women who gave birth to his
children. And his wives caused him to turn away from God.
As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods. He
did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.
Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon. And
he worshipped Molech, the abominable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon
did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not follow the Lord
completely as his father David had done.
Sadly, the wise king had traded and exchanged godly wisdom for
worldly wisdom. And he had to suffer and bear the consequences for
it. The Bible recorded in 1 Kings 11 all the details of the downfall
of King Solomon. The Lord had to remove His hand of blessing from a
man who was once great and wise.
King Solomon fell into the same pits and traps that he had warned
others to avoid. By not living right with God, he failed himself and
God. The preacher later preached about the vanity of life.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king
in Jerusalem.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity.”
Yes, all is vanity under the sun. Solomon did finally realize and
acknowledge his faults and sins. He was better than other preachers
that preached one thing but did otherwise, and also did not come to
acknowledge their errors and wrongdoings. The preacher of wisdom
concluded his writings by stating the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
Receiving godly wisdom from the Lord is one thing, but to continue
in godly wisdom is another! Godly wisdom is not a one-time
impartation. The path of godly wisdom is a continual journey,
walking with the Lord daily throughout our life on earth and
forevermore.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
The source of all godly wisdom is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the Word of God. Like our Daily Bread, we need to not only know His
Word, we also need to do His Word, and walk in the ways of the Lord
as instructed!
How do you obtain godly wisdom? We need to pray and ask the Lord for
it. God will give it to us as He gives generously and graciously to
all.
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
When we continue to walk with the Lord, He will continue to grant us
godly wisdom day by day. He will also prevent us from falling into
sinful ways, and undesirable pits and traps in the journey of life.
Jude 24-25
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.
Our Lord and Saviour is the only wise God. He is able to keep us
from falling, and to present us faultless with great joy before His
glorious presence.
Thus, we need to continually seek His face, and walk in His ways!
We need to see life from His perspective, and do and live accordingly. When
we do so, we will wise up diligently, and live righteously. For God, for
others and for ourselves!
And wise men still seek Him!
Written on 14 February 2022