Thoughts on Wisdom

Reading Stonerose’s post brought to mind some thoughts I had had at one time about “wisdom from above”. So, I went digging through some of my old notebooks until I had found what I had written down. It was just a few scribbles that I had written while the subject was on my mind but I would like to share them here.

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity). James 3:17 (Amplified Bible)

Wisdom from above is:

pure: no underlying motives, no selfish desires, not defiled by the world

peace-loving: not only peace between brothers and sisters, but also peace in our hearts that comes from a right relationship with God. “Blessed are the peacemakers…called sons of God”

courteous: never rude, does not attempt to hurt another’s feelings, there is no contempt for another person who seems to be less wise

willing to yield: always ready to say it’s wrong, does not have to be right

compassionate with good fruits: never says anything except out of care, Galatians 5

whole-hearted: not holding back, trusting, risking, not saving some part of my heart so it won’t be hurt, loving with everything

impartial: no favorites, seeing everyone as needing just as much love

unfeigned: no mask for protection, no hypocrisy, no insincerity, don’t say it unless you mean it

You can start to see how this “wisdom from above” can be called by another name: “love”, “agape” as described in 1 Corinthians 13. The two of them, wisdom and love, are inseparable. And both come from God.