“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” (James 3:13, ESV)
Our Scripture text challenges us to be wise and to model a good conduct according to the wisdom that comes from above, that is, godly wisdom. In its expansive translation of Proverbs 4:11, the Amplified Bible version affords us a very valuable appreciation of the phrase “godly wisdom”. It means a “comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God”.
When Jesus announced to His disciples, in Matthew 16, the destiny that awaited Him and the imminent violent death He was soon to die on the cross, Peter manifested a kind of wisdom that is all too familiar as he sought to persuade Jesus to save Himself from the cross. Though this could be seen as a friendly advice, it is, however, an advice that would lead Jesus away from the path of fulfilling the purpose of His life: “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22, ESV). The wisdom behind Peter’s words was sensual in origin; it was not godly. It was not wisdom from above.
Some of us today may have received such seemingly innocuous “friendly advice”. Someone may have said to you, “you have to use wisdom”; and often what is meant by this is, “save yourself, you don’t have to go through that”. Buy if you are spiritually minded, you will immediately discern that the implication of this friendly advice is an encouragement to sacrifice God's revealed purpose and plan for your life. Such wisdom will only lead you down the slippery slope of compromise where you save yourself some pain and discomfort at the expense God’s will.
Life in Christ is not a promise of life that is devoid of discomfort and suffering, rather it is a promise of life that is full of “grace and truth”. The road we must thread to Zion, will sometimes take us through the valley of the shadow of death. But, His rod and His staff will always go with us to comfort us on the way. And while it is wise, and indeed a duty, for us to live right and to ensure that we take care of this “earthen vessel”, our physical body, by which means alone we can function and serve God on earth; we should, however, never seek to run away from the discomfort and suffering that will necessarily confront us as a direct consequence of resisting the flesh and drawing near to God in obedience.
Wisdom does count the cost of obedience, but encourages obedience whatever the cost. Jesus exemplified this (see John 12:26-27, for example). Wisdom that is from above leads us to walk in ways that demonstrate our love for God, but carnal (superficial) wisdom manifests a love for self and self-preservation.
In the epistle of James carnal wisdom is described as “earthly, unspiritual, even devilish” (James 3:15), and in Matthew 16:23, Jesus called it “a hindrance” in the sense that it does not set one’s mind “on the things of God but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23). Unspiritual wisdom gives way to jealousy, contention and selfish ambition, and ultimately it will lead to disorder and all kinds of evil practice.
Wisdom from above says, “I always do what is right” (Proverbs 8:20, CEV). A wise person, therefore, is one who comes to an opinion and decides on a course of action on the basis of his or her “insight into the ways and purposes of God”, and whose actions are motivated by a desire to do what is right – that is, the things that please God.
In His earthly life, Jesus lived entirely by the wisdom of God. He “always” did what was right, and was driven by a desire to please the Father who sent Him (John 8:29). Now seated at the right hand of the Father, Christ who personified wisdom has been made unto us wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30).
Jesus has called upon everyone who believes in Him to “learn” from Him; to imitate Him and walk in the meekness of wisdom – the wisdom from above.
May the Lord’s grace abound to you as you set yourself today or renew your commitment to God to live always by the wisdom from above!