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Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.17
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. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.We possess more knowledge today than ever before. Someone has estimated that, if all of man's accumulated knowledge from the beginning of recorded history to 1845 were represented by one inch, what he learned from 1845 until 1945 would amount to three inches and what he learned from 1945 until 1975 would represent the height of the Washington Monument! Since then, who knows how many times it has doubled. And now, with the advent of the Internet, we have more knowledge at our fingertips than we can possibly process.
Few people, however, would argue that the incredible leap in scientific, technological, and other such knowledge has been paralleled by a corresponding leap in the common sense wisdom, not to mention spiritual and moral wisdom. If anything, man's understanding of what he is doing and why he is doing it seems to decrease as his practical knowledge increases.
Why aren't people any better? The answer should be obvious. Knowledge alone isn't enough. For example, let me share with you some things you probably didn't know:
Did you know ...
--that a West Virginia man once escaped from jail by using a rope made out of dental floss?
--that a kangaroo jumped a pile of lumber 10 1/2 feet high and 27 feet long?
--that only two people in Saudi Arabia subscribe to Surfer magazine?
--that Englishman John Evans kept 66 bricks, weighing a total of 296 pounds, balanced on his head for 10 seconds, a world record?
--that Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per person than any other country in the world?
And--that you can sing "Amazing Grace" to the tune of the theme song from Gilligan's Island?
--that Heinz ketchup, poured from the mouth of an upended bottle, travels at an average speed of 25 miles per year?
Now that you know these things, you certainly have more information, but what practical good will it do you? Just knowing doesn't mean you know what to do with what you know! Now, some have tried to make practical application of knowledge and turn it into wisdom, and sometimes in a very humorous way. In his book The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams offers a blend of sarcasm and irrefutable wisdom in "Dilbert's Laws of Work":
Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried.
Everything can be filed under "miscellaneous."
If you are good, you will be assigned all the work. If you are really good, you will get out of it.
If it wasn't for the last moment, nothing would get done.
Keep your boss's boss off your boss's back.
Eat one live toad the first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
What do you think? Is this what you think of as true wisdom? The real problem is that most people have no idea what true wisdom is. And often, they settle for a wisdom that is not wise is at all. In fact, James tells us that there is a wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
Wisdom, unlike knowledge, is not merely a matter of the head. It is rather a matter of the heart and of our behavior. Do you remember the line from the movie Forest Gump where Forest said, "My Momma always used to say, 'Stupid is as stupid does'? Well, James is saying something very similar to us about wisdom. It is this -- "Wisdom is as wisdom does."
Listen to what James says in verse 13: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. In other words, the person who is really wise we'll show that wisdom by the way he lives his life. Your lifestyle will be the leading indicator of the level of your wisdom. And depending on the kind of lifestyle a person has, you can make an accurate judgment concerning the kind of wisdom they have -- whether it is the wisdom that comes from God or the wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
James has already told us how we can get this true wisdom, which is from God. In James 1:5 we read, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." The place to begin is to ask. But the real question is how can you put true wisdom into practice in your daily life? In order to answer this question, let's look at the nature of true wisdom and at several actions you can take to put it into practice. To put true heavenly wisdom into practice you must do something.
You must repent of sin and walk in purity. James tells us that the first characteristic of the wisdom that comes from heaven is that it is pure. God is interested in our character. Proverbs 15:26 (NIV) says, "The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him." He is holy, and he desires for us to be holy as well. And if we are going to be holy, we must deal with our sin.
This requires repentance. You must repent of sin in order to walk in purity. Remember, repentance means a change of mind. Everywhere that the word repentance is used in Scripture it fundamentally means a change of mind. Some people believe that repentance means a change in behavior. It does not. It means a change of mind. Now, that will ultimately result in a change of behavior because when our minds change our behavior will follow.
Behavior, however, can be altered to suit a particular situation and not be a reflection of how we truly desire to live. Everyone knows how to be on his or her best behavior when the situation requires it. The real question is how we behave when we are alone, or among our close friends. God does not want us to merely act holy, he wants us to be holy. This requires true repentance -- a change of mind.
You must refuse arguments and pursue peace. James tells us that this heavenly wisdom is also peace-loving. Is your attitude characterized by a desire for peace? Proverbs 20:3 (NCV) says, "Foolish people are always fighting, but avoiding quarrels will bring you honor."
If you find yourself always fighting with people, that should tell you that something is not right inside you. If you are angry and hostile you need to find out why. You can be sure that the anger and hostility is not inspired by God.
It is so easy to be angry and hostile, especially in our hectic and fast-paced area. This is true particularly here in the Northeast. In fact, often we pride ourselves on our hostility. Somehow we think that it is a desirable character trait. In fact, it is quite the opposite. And it leads to all kinds of trouble. Even though it may make us feel better in the short run, it doesn't make us feel better in the long run. And it doesn't make us more like Jesus.
If we are going to experience peace, we are going to have to pursue it. Peace will not come on its own. We have to be proactive. We must intentionally avoid arguments by refusing to participate. It is very difficult to have an argument when one party refuses to argue. Dial it down. Lower the volume. Make peace your goal. Listen to what James says in verse 18: Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
You must relinquish selfishness and be considerate. Selfishness is at the root of so many of our problems. Selfishness makes us inconsiderate of others. But James says that this heavenly wisdom is considerate. When we consider others, we are looking outward instead of inward. It is hard to think of others when we are only thinking about ourselves. That is why it is so important that we relinquish selfishness. And surprisingly, one of the most effective ways to do this is to focus on other people -- on their needs and how we can help them. As Christians, we are called to love and care for one another.
Colossians 3:12-14 (NCV) reads: "God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So always do these things: Show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Get along with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity."
Christianity is characterized by relationships. There is the vertical relationship with God and the horizontal relationship with one another. How we live in these relationships is critical. Christians should be a model of how people can live in love and concern for one another. Christianity should display to the world that it is possible to overcome selfishness.
You must renounce stubbornness and be submissive. Are you stubborn? Some of you probably are stubbornly refusing to admit that you are stubborn. I suppose that all of us are stubborn at times. Often that stubbornness centers around our own opinions. We think we are right and we refuse to consider that we may be wrong.
This kind of thinking keeps us from being submissive in the true sense of this word. James tells us that heavenly wisdom is submissive. The way this word is used in this context has to do with our own openness and teachability. The New Living Translation gives us a more accurate reading by translating submissive as "willing to yield to others." And the only way that we will be willing to yield to others is if we are teachable.
It should be apparent to us that we don't know everything. I once jokingly said to my son, "If you know everything and I know everything, why don't we agree on everything?" Wise people learn from other people. Proverbs 12:15 (GN) says, "Stupid people always think they are right. Wise people listen to advice." That is probably how they got wise in the first place.
You must reject callous attitudes and be merciful in actions. James goes on to say that the wisdom that is from God is full of mercy and good fruit. As we show mercy we are simply reflecting the nature of God. God's nature is one of mercy. God is merciful and we ought to be merciful also.
What keeps us from showing mercy? Callous attitudes toward other people is one of the biggest hindrances to showing mercy. Therefore, we must reject callous attitudes. This is difficult to do because it is so easy to get a hard heart. We have all been disappointed by other people. We have all been hurt by other people. Often, we put up walls to keep people from hurting us. But those walls not only keep people out they keep us in. Those walls tend to make us insensitive and unfeeling. By building these walls we end up hurting ourselves.
Instead, we should practice the art of showing mercy. And it is a mercy that does need to be shown. It is a mercy that manifests itself in actions. James says this wisdom is full of mercy and good fruit. The fruit of mercy is the merciful action. It is the kind touch, or caring word, or encouraging deed. We should look at people and ask ourselves what we can do to be an agent of mercy in their lives. Everyone needs mercy.
Think about it in relationship to our interaction with God. How do we want God to deal with us? Do we want what we deserve only? If we really got what we deserve, we would get judgment, because we have all violated God's laws. No. We don't want what we deserve at all. Rather, we want what we don't deserve -- mercy! And the good news is that God deals with us on the basis of mercy. So we should also deal with others on this same basis. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:7 (NIV): "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
Finally, you must repudiate prejudice and be impartial from the heart. True heavenly wisdom is also impartial and sincere. In other words, prejudice has no place in God's kingdom. But we are not told to merely act like we are not prejudiced; we are to be sincere. Our actions should reflect the attitude of our heart. It is not a game we are playing. We really want to be impartial.
Of course, like everything else that James has asked us to do, this is easier said than done. It is hard because everyone has some sort of prejudice in their heart. It is literally impossible to grow up in our culture without being exposed to prejudicial attitudes. And some of those attitudes stick. They stick because our hearts are selfish and we are prideful. We like to think of ourselves as better than other people. This is why we must repudiate prejudice of all kinds. We should rebuke it in ourselves and in others as well -- especially in other Christians. It has no place in Christianity.
We have already seen in James 2:8-9 (NIV) these words: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. Showing favoritism violates the royal law to love your neighbor as yourself.
Do you want true heavenly wisdom? Do you want the wisdom that is from above? If so you must repent of sin and walk in purity. You must refuse arguments and pursue peace. You must relinquish selfishness and be considerate. You must renounce stubbornness and be submissive. You must reject callous attitudes and be merciful in actions. And you must repudiate prejudice and be impartial from the heart.
How did you score in each of these areas? They are indicators of whether the wisdom that we say we possess is really God's wisdom.
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