March 13
James 3:13-14
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in humidity 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.” James 3:13-14
FOR YOU
As I approached this scripture today, the topic of wisdom felt familiar, and indeed we did study it back in November. I speak as one who was recently called a “big dummy” in a morning showdown, so clearly it does not hurt to revisit the topic.
RECAP from November 14
What is wisdom?
Tim Keller defined wisdom as the “competence with regard to the complex realities of life.”
Mark calls it “the art of skillful living.”
When discussing wisdom as a family, we settled along the lines of “knowing how to do the best thing when rules aren’t there to tell you what to do.”
In James 3:14-15, wisdom is demonstrated through action. Specifically, wisdom is evidenced through a life of good choices, choices made in a posture of humility.
Two reminders why it is important to be humble in my deeds:
I only arrived at the current moment because of the Lord’s sustaining hand to get me here.
Whatever action or decision I pursue, ultimately the Lord is sovereign over the outcome.
Therefore, perhaps the foundation of wisdom is not simply the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment
as the dictionary would suggest. This definition sounds like a lot of pressure to me. Rather, a life of wisdom is being so in tune with the Spirit that we humbly rely on His guidance to direct our steps and have eyes to see His hand at work in our world.
Wisdom in the Spirit doesn’t allow for envy, because the Lord knows what is best for us and is working for us.
Wisdom in the Spirit doesn’t allow for arrogance because the Lord is Lord of the outcome.
Wisdom in the Spirit doesn’t allow for selfish ambition because we are already justified in Christ.
“True wisdom is not measured by academic degrees or intellectual knowledge alone, but by a life lived in a way that reflects godly insight.”- a google AI overview→ sketchy but well said
FOR YALL
Here are some questions to consider in making wise decisions…
Littles
-Is this a good choice?
-Can I love God and love others when I do this?
Bigs
-Is this helping me to be the person I want to become?
-Am I making a decision based on whether it is a good choice or whether or not I will get caught?
*I think this second one is huge for teenagers and one worthy of deeper consideration
Grown ups
(see above but add these questions…)
-Am I seeing the situation clearly or am I tainted with envy, selfish ambition, etc?
-Am I acting in humility?
___________________________
“How much better to gain wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!” Proverbs 16:16 May we believe this to be true.
Anne
Conventional wisdom would probably say don’t take your 3 year old to a Bama basketball game that starts past his bed time and give him an offensive amount of snacks but then we wouldn’t have documentation like this…