James 3-5 | If You Think You're Pretty Wise, But...

Wisdom is one of the most valuable components of life. God devotes an entire section of books in the Old Testament so that we could become wise (the "Wisdom" books- Job, Psalms Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon).

Do you have wisdom? Here is a way to evaluate from James 3.

13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

I talked with a man once who thought he was very wise, yet he was creating incredible strife in his home and his whole agenda was his selfish ambition. He wanted to do what he wanted to do regardless of how it affected anyone else. That's not a wise man, that's a fool.

James gives us the defining traits of true wisdom:

PURE: A wise man knows he must keep his life free from impurities that would cloud his ability to hear from God.
PEACEABLE: Wherever a wise man is, peace follows. Wisdom honors peace.
GENTLE: A wise man is willing to submit, to be governed by God. He is not brash, harsh, and headstrong.
REASONABLE: A wise man makes sense, is able to reason gently and come to right conclusions. He is not stubborn. You can reason logically with him and he will listen.
FULL OF MERCY: He is not angry, bitter, judgmental. He is willing to forgive and has a heart that really cares for people.
FULL OF GOOD FRUITS: His life is filled with the fruits of the Spirit because he is wisely letting the Spirit control him.
UNWAVERING: While gentle, a wise man is a man of great convictions. He is wise enough to plant his life on the solid belief in God and His Word and will not deviate from that source
WITHOUT HYPOCRISY: A wise man doesn't lie, isn't dishonest, doesn't say one thing and live another. He does not ask others to do things he is willing to do.
THE FRUIT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS: He does the right thing and sows the seeds that lead to the right things. He is not occasionally right; he is FULL of righteousness.
MAKES PEACE: Everywhere a wise man goes he makes peace, where peace is possible. Jesus was opposed by some who were unwilling to respond to God. But when there were men of peace, he generated incredible peace and changed men from enemies to friends.

Are you filled with wisdom? If not, cry out to God. As we saw in James 1. He will give us all the wisdom we need. If we keep humbly and hourly looking to Him and depending upon Him in faith, He will make us wise men over time.