Have you ever gave sound advice, but it felt like you were just talking to the wall? Perhaps, it was the other way around, someone gave you words of wisdom, but you didn’t listen. We’re not talking about the stereotypical, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, I’ve made up my mind!” Simply, something went wrong shortly into the conversation. Did you know it’s possible to turn godly wisdom into confusion? If we truly want to give and receive wisdom from above, then it would be best to recognize what God’s wisdom looks like. Let’s first look at the components of wisdom, then how people corrupt it, even with the best intentions. And finally, how do we keep it pure.
James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
In order for wisdom to be complete, all these elements must be present: purity or righteousness; peace; gentleness; reasonableness (easy to receive or obey); mercy; good fruits; impartiality and without hypocrisy or pretense. Take away any one of them, and you have partial or even ungodly wisdom. If we allow the flesh to get involved, it’s over! We’ve all seen those conversations that started peaceably, but then turned into debate, and then escalated into a heated argument. Nothing good was accomplished. What happened? Pride found an opening, crept in and took over the conversation. At that point, natural or even demonic wisdom was at play. So what are the elements of this kind of wisdom?
James 3:14-16 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual (natural), devilish (demonic). For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
Some key ingredients that maintain godly wisdom are love and humility. Love seeks the truth in order to benefit the other person. Pride uses factual statements to look good in front of others. Lust causes arguments, which simply is self-centeredness on steroids (see James 4:1-6). If you feel like you have to prove your thesis to save face, you’re departing from love. Remember, Holy Spirit does the convicting; it’s not our job. If we try to do the convicting, we may actually start using shame like a weapon. If we remain mindful to speak what He wants us to say, conviction will come because our words will be spirit and truth. 1 Peter 4:11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (see also John 6:63).
Love has to remain at the forefront of the conversation. An interesting aspect of love is it allows others to make their own decisions and choices. As a messenger of God, you’re only responsibility is to deliver the message in love. What other people do with it is not up to you; it is up to them. In this sense, they are not accountable to you; they’re accountable to the Lord. If you attempt to convince them of the veracity of the message, and tell them what to do, it is very possible to undo everything that was said. If a person feels like you’re meddling in his affairs, he will reject what is spoken. Stay on task, and leave the rest to God. Truthfully, the main thing left for you to do is simply love and pray for him.
If we are recipients, it is vital to stay teachable. Humility is the order of the day. Humility will lead to an honest assessment of what we need in the moment. We cannot afford to become prideful, nor resort to anger if we don’t like what we’re hearing. That kind of anger is not our friend. James 1:19-20 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. There is a time to listen and a time to speak. In all, it’s important to be Spirit led. One can have the right message, but still deliver it at the wrong time. One can deliver a message at the right time, but deliver it the wrong way. It is important to be slow and deliberate before speaking, even if the message is urgent. In short, if one is motivated by anything other than love, more than likely the message will be rejected, the dialogue will degenerate and no one will be the better for it. Keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace with all love, will lead to the right solutions. This is wisdom from above!
