James 3:13-18
The Right Kind of Wisdom

Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

New Revised Standard Version

James, the half-brother of Jesus and the head of the Jerusalem church, wrote his letter to pass along the "wisdom" God had given him to all the Christian. To James and most everyone else of that day, there was a clear distinction between "knowledge", a bunch of facts, and "wisdom", what you do with that knowledge. Early Christians were eager for knowledge about Jesus, and were eager to hear facts of His life from the Apostles and others who knew Jesus. Maybe it was because he had often been asked what it was like growing up with Jesus that James is so adamant that we focus on what we do with that knowledge.

In this passage, James urges his readers to get their wisdom from above. We can have "wisdom", knowing how to use facts, and use those facts to our advantage and to the exploitation of others. The true "wisdom" that God provides uses our knowledge to g row spiritually, to build others up, and to glorify God.

I had an example of that this week in chatting with a friend of mine. In discussing some uncomfortable decisions she was facing, she tossed in the wisdom snippet that we should "live one day at a time." My mind stopped me before my mouth agreed with he r, and I thought more about what she might have meant by that. I wrestle with trying to figure out the future, and God reminds me often to "live one day at a time" and trust in His guidance every day so that the future will be what He intends. A few mo re questions told me that by choosing to "live one day at a time", she wanted to experience all the enjoyment she could in the one day, and ignore the hurt or consequences in the future that could come from that immediate pleasure.

See how this "wisdom" stuff can be dangerous? At the same time, we don't want to ignore the "knowledge" we have about salvation and God's love, so we must learn God's "wisdom" of how to use our knowledge.

That's why James gives us tests to see if our wisdom is from God or from our own sinful desires:
     Do we display our wisdom with gentleness and humility?
     Does our wisdom value all other people, regardless of their status?
     Does our wisdom have "feet" -- do we do anything that demonstrates that God's wisdom is growing, blooming, and bearing fruit?