Week 2 IBS: Wisdom

James 3:13-17

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but this is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

            In Proverbs 2:6, it says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Wisdom isn’t something we can acquire on our own accord or just magically have one day. True wisdom comes from the Lord and is pure. It states in the verse above that the wisdom of the world is demonic and comes from a place of selfish ambition. When we start doing everything for ourselves and seeking wisdom or acceptance from the worlds standards, our lives will become disorderly and hectic because it is not from the Lord. When we start to look at the people around us and compare our knowledge to theirs and become jealous of all they seem to know, we are taking our eyes off the cross. God doesn’t call us to have the wisdom that He gave the person next to us or across the room from us. He gives us the wisdom that we need in our hearts and minds. I struggle with wanting to know everything and I get frustrated and jealous of others when I don’t know as much as they seem to know. When that jealousy pops up in my heart and I start to get focused solely on myself instead of Jesus, that’s when life gets hectic and my life becomes a whirlwind of sin with no repentance. The things I learn during those times aren’t from the Lord and none of it is what He was trying to show me, it’s all from the world and what it wants me to think and say. With jealousy in my heart, I can never have the true wisdom that the Lord provides, I’ll always be in the world and not of God. God has been showing me that I don’t have to know what everyone else knows, I just have to follow Him and let Him guide me and give me wisdom that is sincere and true. He is the source of wisdom and understanding, and the world will lead me astray. My application is to write down what the Lord shows me through a sincere heart and pray that I will look to Him for wisdom and not to the world and Sarah is going to keep me accountable for that.