June 20
‘This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,’ 1 Corinthians 2:13a
Bible reading: James 3:13-18 (Go to the Bible passage)
‘Who is wise and understanding among you?’
How to answer that question? Paul says, ‘Those who think they know something, do not yet know as they ought to know’ (1 Corinthians 8:2). So we can never answer the question above by raising our hand. Whoever is wise and understanding, will show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
But as long as the fruits of our wisdom and understanding are bitter envy and selfish ambitions - either hidden deep in our hearts or plainly evident - then we know that we have not yet received the wisdom and understanding granted by God. Or maybe it has been granted to us for a long time, but we have not yet learned to live by it because our own ‘wisdom’ could still get us along well enough without us bumping our heads all too hard... But even though our own wisdom will take us far, God says that it is earthly, and He equals earthly with unspiritual and demonic. Therefore: as long as we still live and work by the wisdom this world has to offer, bitter envy and selfish ambitions will continue to exist among us.
But when we let ourselves be purified of this by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, and when we joyfully let ourselves be taught by Him in heavenly wisdom, we will bathe in a wholesome space of purity and peace, consideration and obedience, full of mercy and sincerity. This is no illusion, but the truth in faith.
Why do we so stubbornly - against our better knowledge - hang on to earthly wisdom?

Share This