James 3: 13-18:
Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
Hope you all had a great holiday last week! Just want to give a shout of to my sweet husband...who encourages me and asks thought provoking questions to jump start my examination of scripture. I suffered from some serious
"writer's block" over this small section and after some prayer and about 10 minutes discussing with my husband I was back on track...thanks, honey!
This week's segment of scripture is short and sweet. Just as we discovered last week about taming our tongues in this world, this week we are examining our motives based on the wisdom that we subscribe to in this world. This segment of scripture focuses on the importance of good wisdom. Let's take a look...
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
What type of wisdom do you feel fills your heart? I think it is interesting that according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of wisdom is this "1. Accumulated philosophic or scientific learning; knowledge.
2. Ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; insight.
3. Good sense; judgment." So wisdom impacts the paradigm in which we use to walk through life. It is the foundation from which we take action. We must use "good" wisdom in which to base our lives.
As we examine the first group of scriptures, the rhetorical nature of verse 13 begs the question of our motives behind our deeds. Why do we do the things we do? Are we completely motivated to be Christlike or just a little bit and more motivated to show the world that we are great people that should have attention paid to them? Do we diminish our deeds by making them known- do they then become born out of our desire to covet and focused on our own interests? What is the fruit of your wisdom? From verse 13 we see that wisdom is born in a good life full of "deeds done in humility" or actions taken in Christ's love. 1 Peter 2:12 describes this type of living in wisdom further; "12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
Our society is full of ambitious, "it's all about number 1" mentality people. In fact, during my career I fought to try to be one of those people. Throughout different roles in my career, the common thread between them is that I, and my peers, competed to be the best. Many times in striving to be the better employee or most decorated salesperson, we did so at the cost of others. We were measuring ourselves by worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom encourages us to succeed in our career no matter the cost to others. Our prize lies in pride and accomplishment in the eyes of the people of this world because we rose to the top. We were never contented or satisfied. The constant competition resulted in at times lack of teamwork, discord, and damaged relationships (evil practices). 1 Corinthians 3:19 explains this about wisdom: "19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”[a] Earlier in 1 Corinthians 2:6 (6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing) it further explains to us that the wisdom of this world does not lead us to the prize, but instead to a big pile of nothing.
In verse 14 the scripture says to not "boast" about the evil ambition of your hearts because in doing so you are "denying the truth." Furthermore, Romans 2:8 defines the consequences of this, "8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger." To deny the truth means to buy into the worldly wisdom and ignore God's truth, heavenly wisdom. Let's examine what "heavenly wisdom" looks like in the following verses.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
The worldy wisdom examined in verses 13-16 is characterized by earthly, unspiritual, and demonic motives and practices. It breeds "envy and selfish ambition" and leads to "disorder and evil practices." However, heavenly wisdom is described in verse 17 as "first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." What a breath of fresh air! The adjectives used to describe heavenly wisdom are direct antonyms to the words used to describe worldy wisdom- submissive, the antonym to ambition, being considerate verses being envious, etc. The first and second paragraphs give us a clear compare and contrast of the two types of wisdom.
After verse 17, we have a definition of God's wisdom and then in verse 18 we see that the result of our obediance in being more Christlike will be righteousness. If we can apply the wisdom of heaven, we will "reap a harvest of righteousness."
The word, "peacemaker" makes me think of someone that is a representative of a nation at war with another nation. The peacemakers of each nation meet to try to come with a resolution of peace, but neither side can be impartial or sincere. They fight over resources and land, they are looking out for their own interests alone. They are ambitious in the midst of chaos, rooted in evil practices. In contrast, as a peacemaker representing heavenly wisdom described in verse 17, we will reap righteousness. Do you remember how we defined "righteousness" in James 1:20. "Free from guilt of sin" or "to be reconciled with God." So if our foundation is built from heavenly wisdom, as peacemakers, we will harvest righteousness. I love how Matthew 5:9 confirms the blessings of being a peacemaker, "9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
In 2 Corinthians 1:12 it says "12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity[a] and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace." If you want to "boast" about something, this is it- that you conduct yourself in this world with integrity and godly sincerity based on God's grace, not of worldly wisdom.
Girls, I am looking forward to studying "Submit yourselves to God," James 4:1-12 with you all next week. Thanks so much for the grace bestowed upon me with my "holiday" last week from posting and with the tardiness of my post this week. Our house is in full swing of summer visitors :-) My posts may not be as "on time" over the next couple of weeks, but rest assured, they will be posted! God's Word is like oxygen to my soul, I can't live without it. I am so grateful that you all are taking this journey through James with me this summer. Thanks so much to all of you that have sent me notes throughout this study! I love knowing that you are reading and that God is revealing Himself to each of you through this study. He is faithful!
M
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