Biblical Wisdom

Last week I celebrated the 44th anniversary of my 16th birthday. For those of you who are not very good at math, that means that I turned 60 years old. My sweet wife was fearful that it was bothering me, but instead of bothering me, it has made me think about some things. When I was very young, I always wanted to be smart. Someone told me one time that if I read a lot, I would become smart. As I grew older, I had fewer cares about being smart, and wanted to be wise instead. I believe that smart is just filling your head with knowledge. Wisdom is having knowledge and understanding what to do with it.

As a teenager, I went to a seminar in which they taught that the definition of wisdom is “seeing and responding to life situations from God’s frame of reference.” Wisdom is not just growing in knowledge, but is rather being able to use that knowledge to recognize and act in situations the way God would have you to act. I believe this is something that we should all aspire to achieve. There is no question that I have not met this achievement in my life, but there is also no question that God has provided us with some help in getting there.

I. Worldly Wisdom

The first mention of the word wisdom in the Bible is in Genesis 3:6. It is when Eve looks at the tree of knowledge of good and evil and saw that it was good for obtaining wisdom. The result of she and Adam seeing wisdom in eating the fruit of that tree was nothing less than the downfall of man. It is a very clear example of wisdom of the world as opposed to the wisdom of God.

James 3:13-16 describes worldly wisdom when it says, “Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above but it earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice.

In I Corinthians 3, Paul tells us that those who think they are wise are probably not, since the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. He also says that the Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile.

Solomon, who is considered the wisest man who ever lived said in Proverbs 3:7, “Be not wise in your own eyes’ fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” It seems that worldly wisdom, in Biblical terms, is always paired with two things: arrogance and an inability to control one’s words. In fact, the discussion by James above follows on the heels of James talking about how important it is to be in control of the tongue, comparing it with the rudder of a ship, which is a very small thing in proportion to the size of the ship and a bit in the mouth of a horse. He says in ch 3, verse 5, that “so too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a great forest.”

In today’s world, we have people who make up fake accounts on social media just to “troll” others with rude and inciting comments, and leaders who boast about themselves and promise things that they will never accomplish. We follow and celebrate those who brag and boast, but should we?

II. Biblical Wisdom

Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It is important that we understand this concept from the beginning. When the Bible says that is where wisdom begins, we should take special note. Strong’s Bible Dictionary tells us that this word “fear” can be defined in various ways. It can be terror, an awesome or terrifying thing; respect, reverence or piety.

In a Biblical context, we need to understand our relationship with God. God is the creator of the universe. He has sufficient power that he was able to speak a universe into existence that is so big we cannot begin to comprehend it. We would do well to have a healthy fear of a being with that much power. However, we also learn from this same Bible that he wants to be to us a father. Romans 8:15 tells us that he is “Abba, Father.” This term “Abba” is a term of intimacy. Many have likened it to the word “Daddy.” In other words, when we look at the full context of the Bible, we should learn that God is an incredibly loving father whose love, not unlike a good earthly father, will bring about discipline when it is needed. A parent who is unwilling to discipline a child is not showing love to the child, but rather is giving that child over to a life of entitlement and disappointment. As parents, we are all aware of this.

Just as worldly wisdom is linked in the Bible with arrogance, Biblical wisdom is always linked with humility. CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that, “humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” He went on to say that humble people think so much on serving others that they don’t think of themselves.

Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” This verse reminds me of a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “It is better to remain silent and have others question your ignorance, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Listening and learning are really beautiful things. The more we listen to others, the more we are able to appreciate them. We should be able to see that we can learn something from everyone with whom we come into contact.

At my age, and with all of my teaching experience, this is still not something that I do well at times. My attention span can be short and my willingness, I wish it were just inability, can sometimes be even shorter. When we really listen to others, we do not just learn from them, but we show them respect. This is a big part of that thinking of others thing to which CS Lewis was referring. The truly wise person in Biblical terms does not know that he or she is wise. That person only knows that he or she wants to be.

Another aspect of wisdom that is closely connected to humility is being teachable. Proverbs 2:1-5 says, “My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

Notice the prize that the wise person is seeking in these verses. We should seek wisdom and understanding in the same way that you seek a great treasure. We should receive the words of God and hold onto them as we would great riches. Those are really strong words in a world where the only things we really seem to treasure are wealth and pleasure. But it is clear that only if we look at wisdom and instruction as we would a great treasure, THEN we will understand the fear of the Lord and find his knowledge. When a person allows God’s word to be the object of his learning, and really seeks it earnestly, it provides the foundation that is necessary for true wisdom.

The evidence of Biblical wisdom in your life is taught in James 3:17-18. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.”

Pure is the idea of being pure from fault or clean. Peace loving is defined as bringing peace with you. Gentle is equitable, fair, and mild. Compliant means to be easy to obey. Full of mercy means that your thoughts are full with the desire to help others and especially those who are miserable or afflicted. Full is also applied to good fruits which means an effect or result of good deeds and in fitting souls for eternal life. Unwavering means to be without ambiguity or uncertainty. And finally, without pretense is without hypocrisy and undisguised.

Think about these traits that we have described above. None of these really has to do with being smart. They have to do with your disposition toward others, your willingness to help others, and being real. In Galatians 5:22-23, we have a list of the fruit of the Spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If you think about it, this is pretty much the list that is laid our above from James chapter 3. These are the things that God brings about in us through spending time in his word and in prayer to him. Gaining these traits through interacting with God is supposed to be the hallmark of being a Christian. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Truly seeking God will produce results in your everyday life. But we have to know the difference between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. While the wisdom of the world may look good (Genesis ch. 3), it eventually leads to destruction and separation from God. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. This is true wisdom: Knowing God; knowing his will; acting upon what you know, not because you know, but because God has filled you with himself. This will lead to making a difference not only in your own life, but in all of those around you.