The fruits of Wisdom


James 3:13-17

I love how this verse clearly explains the fruits of wisdom. It says speaking of the person who has wisdom “let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom” wisdom is not the same as knowledge, a person can know a lot of things yet still be foolish. Yet even a fool can appear wise if he can keep his mouth shut. It goes on to rebuke those with an earthly wisdom which is not founded in God but in man. I love verse 17 which says “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.” This definition reminds me so much of the definition of love, that love is patient, and kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t boast, love always believes the best, and it is not self seeking, and those are just a few. This kind of wisdom is so different then what the world calls wisdom, it is so backwards to popular culture, to make peace instead of revenge, to be considerate, submissive even. I know in my life these are things I strive to be. When I was little I heard the story of Solomon, who was given the chance to ask for anything he wished and he asked for wisdom. So I prayed for wisdom. At that point I was asking for wisdom with the hopes of gaining the riches Solomon also received. I later just wanted the wisdom. I see now that God has already brought to fruition many of these traits in my life. I didn’t realize just how many things wisdom encompasses.
Application
I have slacked off praying for wisdom because I thought I had received all I was going to receive. I see now that while I have some of the fruits of wisdom I definitely haven’t mastered it. So this week (and hopefully for the foreseeable future) I will add wisdom back into my daily prayers.

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