Written by Jolene DeHeer
Before my feet hit the ground each morning, I spend time in prayer. Part of the prayer is praising God for who He is, part is thanking Him for what He’s done, part is requests for my family, part of it is arming myself and my family with the full armor of God, and part of it is asking the Spirit to empower me to fight common sins and faults that plague me. I ask for the spirit of authentic humility to combat my pride, the spirit of selflessness to overshadow my selfishness, the spirit of gratitude to overcome my complacence, the spirit of contentment to replace my greed, the spirit of acceptance with joy to abolish my complaining, and finally the spirit of wisdom which has been on my mind a lot lately.
I usually think of wisdom as something that enables me not to say or do stupid things. I have the type of personality that will speak or act without thinking it through and the results can be anywhere from embarrassing to mortifying. My need for wisdom is great so I decided to do a little exploration about what I was asking for when I asked for wisdom. I first went to the dictionary which used words like, “insight,” “judgement,” “good sense,” and “knowledge.” I knew I needed all of that and more, so I went to the scriptures to see what God had to say about wisdom.
There I found these words from James 3:17-18, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” When I read that I felt like the person in the commercials who head explodes and purple smoke comes out. These profound words brought a deep richness to the word wisdom, expanded the true meaning of godly wisdom, and revealed to me how much I need the Holy Spirit to grant me this kind of wisdom. Slow down a minute and let these powerful words find their way into your mind and soul.
This kind of wisdom comes down from heaven. We don’t call it up from within ourselves. It is a gift of God’s grace. We need to humbly empty ourselves, open our arms wide, and gratefully receive it. When this kind of wisdom takes residence in our hearts, minds, and souls the results are truly mind-blowing.
- It is pure…it is undefiled by the world, sin, or cultural norms.
- It is peace-loving…it builds bridges to connect people and breaks down walls of hostility and fear.
- It is considerate…it is kind and not self-serving, but rather puts the needs of others ahead of its own.
- It is submissive…it willingly bows to God’s will and agenda for our lives and lives obediently before Him.
- It is full of mercy…it is eager to extend to all people the mercy God has extended to us.
- It is full of good fruit…it enables us to bear fruit for the kingdom which blesses others and glorifies God.
- It is impartial…it sees the image of God in all people and honors each human a brother/sister in Christ.
- It is sincere…it is honest and true and genuine. There is no bullying, name calling, or shaming – just love.
The results of this kind of wisdom is so much more than not doing or saying something stupid.
This kind of wisdom is life-transforming, kingdom-building, and God-glorifying. The result is we become peacemakers and the result of that is a harvest of righteousness.
Let us all pray that the powerful Holy Spirit will grant us this godly wisdom from heaven so that the words of Amos 5:24 come alive in our world today, “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”
