Wisdom – Building on God’s Truth
We’ve spent a considerable amount of time laying the foundation of Christ’s Lordship, our discipleship response in living out the relationship we’re given with God in Christ, and doing so in Love and Humility. This requires that we do so in His Wisdom. As we begin to now focus on building our earthly relationships (check out previous articles on Love for a refresher as to God’s Covenant Order for all relationships) we must pay attention to what God says about Wisdom so that it will be our guide.
Here are 5 things to help us understand as we focus on and learn to grow in His Wisdom in every aspect of our lives and relationships:
1) Wisdom in God, in Christ, in all of creation (Proverbs 8:22-31; Colossians 1:16)
2) Fear of God is where Wisdom begins (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10)
3) Knowledge (intellect) alone is not Wisdom (1 Corinthians 8:1-2)
4) Humility comes from Godly Wisdom (James 3:13)
5) We must differentiate between Godly Wisdom rather than worldly “wisdom” (James 3:14-18)
Let’s take a deeper look at each of these beginning with: 1) Wisdom in God and Christ and all of creation (Proverbs 8:22-31; Colossians 1:16)
Wisdom begins and ends with God. Our own intellect or knowledge apart from God, as we will see throughout this particular focus leads to pride and ultimately to our own destruction. However, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are complete and perfect in Wisdom. We can Biblically state that all true Wisdom springs from God and by implication and inference in His Word that He is Wisdom.
In the Proverbs 8 passage, we see Wisdom accompanied the “first” of His works in Creation which points directly to what the Apostle Paul says regarding Christ Himself in the Colossians passages. Mathematically we can say that Christ = God (Colossians 2:9); Christ was present in Creation (Colossians 1:16); Wisdom was present in Creation (Proverbs 8:22-31)…therefore God is Christ and all Wisdom flows from Him and holds all things together.
We may not be able to say God/Christ = Wisdom but from Creation, His Word and in Christ it certainly should be evident why Wisdom comes from fearing and revering Him alone!
This is what helps us accept Christ as Lord, walk as His disciples and build every relationship on the Wisdom of His Love and Humility! When we attempt to do it in our “wisdom” we immediately “dethrone” Christ and our walk and relationships suffer and crumble!
The greatest thing we find out is that Wisdom establishes for us that Christ is Lord! This is huge and where we must all start in the relationship that He has made possible for us in His sacrificial death…He is over all! Is He over you?
How can we be sure and know that we’re walking in it? Glad you asked (or at least I asked for you). This leads to our second point regarding Wisdom…
2) Fear of God is where Wisdom begins (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10).
How does fear lead to Wisdom? Fear of man will not but fear of God… literally placing Him and His Truth above all else…is the only thing that will lead you into Wisdom.
Where does God rate and rank in your life? What do your fear most in making decisions? How others will see and react to you? Or how it honors God? This changes everything as we walk in Christ…or apart from Him.
This is why we’re spending time in this as we transition in our L&L devotional and prayer focus from Lordship and discipleship into loving relationships. So much of what the world and culture have redefined and pursued is a “false” (void of Truth) love, rooted in the flesh and fear of man rather than seeking God and fearing (absolute reverence) of Him.
We can fear God because He is all Truth and Love and always acts accordingly! He never changes and we can count on that and should fear Him if we are not walking with Him (Malachi 3:6a; James 1:17). People apart from and with no fear of, God always act in selfishness and “lord it over” others creating fear of man that moves us further and further from God and real Wisdom.
Spend time getting to know God and choose to honor His Truth in every part of your life (fearing Him and His Word) and you will be increasingly walking in Wisdom. Don’t you desire this in your life and relationships?
Remember, walking in Wisdom (Godly fear and Truth), is what guides us to live with Christ as Lord and as His disciples. We then can fulfill the law of Love in building relationships with all others in His Truth and Wisdom.
This is why we must recognize and accept that our own wisdom or knowledge not only falls far short of building these relationships for His Church and Kingdom but also leads to being “puffed up” or prideful in our own thinking.
This is the essence from God’s Word of our third point regarding Wisdom…
3) Knowledge (intellect) alone is not Wisdom (1 Corinthians 8:1-2)…you’re likely familiar with the saying, “The more I know the more I realize I don’t know.”
This captures the thoughts of this text in helping us understand that as long as we’re trusting in our own knowledge we are not only coming up short but it will lead to a great fall and destruction (Proverbs 16:18-19).
You can test God’s Word all you want and continue to walk in your own “wisdom” or you can take Him at this Word and realize that our “wisdom” is prideful and leads to no good. Fearing Him and walking in His Wisdom brings about the fruit of His Kingdom and Spirit (Galatians 6:7-8) and gives us eternal life, here and now, as well as in the life to come!
Don’t know about you but I’ve tried my own “wisdom” and God was and is right…it led to a fall and destructive outcomes. I’m now living in His Wisdom and receiving His good fruit. I hope that you are seeing the clear contrast between the Wisdom that is of God and the wisdom of this world (1 Corinthians 1:21, 25; 3:19).
The greatest contrast, and simply put, is that worldly wisdom is rooted in the flesh and leads to pride which makes it difficult to see our own foolishness… and the Wisdom of God is from His Word and Spirit and leads to…
4) Humility comes from Godly Wisdom (James 3:13)
Right from the beginning the enemy attacked the Wisdom of God and offered us the opportunity to come up with our own wisdom and stand as our own authority (Genesis 3:4-5). Of course, that’s very appealing to the flesh and let’s be honest, if Eve (and Adam) had not taken the bait and the first bite of that forbidden fruit (nor anyone else up to present time), I would have (and so would you).
We are created in God’s image so we desire to create, love in relationship and walk in authority. The problem is that God alone is The Authority so when Adam and Eve (and you and me) step in and usurp His Authority, our “wisdom” is rooted in our selfish flesh. So…
5) We must differentiate between Godly Wisdom and worldly “wisdom” (James 3:13-18)
Do I want jealousy, envy, deception and selfishness (the wisdom of my flesh and the world) or do I want the Wisdom that is pure, peaceful, gentle, submissive, unbiased, sincere, integral and brings good fruit…a harvest of peace and righteousness?
Let me simply share key Wisdom (certainly not exhaustive as all of Scripture is the very Word and Wisdom of God) from those who were inspired by The Holy Spirit to pass on His perfect Wisdom to us…
Moses… “In the beginning, God…” Genesis 1:1
David… “The heavens declare the glory of God…” Psalm 19
Isaiah… “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…” Isaiah 5:20; “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
Peter… “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16
John… “In the beginning was The Word…” John 1:1
“And The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of truth and grace.” John 1:14
Paul… “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
“I no longer live but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20
“You are saved by grace through faith, a gift from God…you are His workmanship to do the good works He purposed for you…” Ephesians 2:8-10
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5
Jesus… “You are my disciples if you remain in my word, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
“I Am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
“It is finished.” John 19:30
“All authority is given to me…go make disciples.” Matthew 28:18-20
“My grace is sufficient for you.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 21:6
Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – There is so much more of His Wisdom found in His Word! Read it daily and find out for yourself! Will you choose His Wisdom or yours and the world?
Love and Lordship…Action Item(s) –
- Read the Scriptures in this article and ask The Holy Spirit to teach you the Wisdom of God.
- Think and/or write down how you apply wisdom in your life and relationships.
- Write down the fruit of your wisdom in your life and relationships.
- What needs to change, if anything? How will you change it?