Wisdom from Above

James’ epistle teaches us that true Christianity is a product of the new birth and results in a genuinely changed life – one that desires to glorify God.  This new life manifests itself in our speech.  This is natural when we recognize our speech reveals what is in our heart.  When God gives us a new heart, it follows that we have a new vocabulary!

But James goes beyond our speech to our whole manner of life.  He asks a penetrating question – who is a wise man? How can we recognize him? A genuinely wise man (or woman), James tells us, will “show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).   When he speaks of “a good conversation,” he is speaking about his manner of life. A wise man shows his wisdom by the way he lives. It adds credibility to his speech.

The wise man can to do this because he is governed by what James refers to as “wisdom from above.”

There is a wisdom that is not from above. It is earthly, sensual, devilish.  This is the wisdom of unregenerate man, of the life before Christ. It is the wisdom of pride that leads to envying and strife and bitterness. But the wisdom that is from above, James tells us, is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3: 17).

That’s a mouthful. To put it in other words, a genuinely wise man is governed by that which God says is wise. His life is marked first by purity. By implication he is bound to truth. A man that is pure will necessarily love truth. It cannot be otherwise. Secondly, he is a lover of peace and, therefore, pursues it. Note, however, that purity precedes peace. True wisdom always looks for peace but never at the expense of truth. Why is that? Remember, this wisdom is from above, from God himself and God is truth. He cannot lie and will never act contrary to his nature.

Consequently, those who follow this wisdom are gentle and easily entreated.  They do not push themselves on others.  In fact, they put others before their own interests and desires. They are not impatient with the weaknesses or frailties of others. Ultimately, those filled with wisdom from above sincerely love others and show no favoritism in that expression of love.

This wisdom cannot be purchased online, manufactured from within, or borrowed from a friend. It is from above. Its author is God and He gives it to his children. Even so, it requires his grace to walk in its light day by day.

Randy Livingston serves as a chaplain for a local police department. He writes devotionals for his ministry which also appear at his blog, From the Chaplain. We republish this post by permission.

Photo by Em bé khóc nhè on Unsplash