Wisdom

           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. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18)

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:19-24)

When the going gets rough, how do you think? I’ve said before that our response to pain, stress, fear, or difficulty tends to be that our thoughts spiral down to the size and shape of the stimulus. We want it to go away. Even Jesus prayed that the cup might be taken from Him. But His response continued with a dedication to the Father’s will, and after that, He set His course even more firmly toward that will.

When the going gets rough, we need wisdom, but how do we recognize wisdom? How do we know it’s not just our flesh, or our human will? Today’s passage tells us that the wisdom from heaven is first of all pure. It’s not contaminated with sins like those listed in the passage from Galatians before the words “But the fruit of the Spirit.”

The second characteristic of wisdom from heaven is that it is peace-loving. It doesn’t take the attitude of some folks I know who can’t wait for the government to try to take their weapons. The streets will run red as they Rambo their way through the troops! This doesn’t mean we’re to not to stand up for things we believe in – but we’re to do it peacefully.

After that, wisdom is considerate. It makes allowances for the failings and weaknesses of others. This isn’t the same as compromising, and it most assuredly isn’t the same thing as what I hear about now – in which we’re supposed to give everyone else what they want, no questions asked, no arguments raised.

And now we come to one that always causes trouble. Wisdom from heaven is submissive. Do we accept the place that we are in? Do we give way to others? This is a tough one for most of us. The wisdom from heaven is willing to say, “Me second” or even “me third.”

Next, the wisdom from heaven is full of mercy. It’s not about revenge. It’s not about reparations. It’s not about getting ours back. We want to see “Karma” swing in our favor, and against those who have wronged us. Wisdom wants evil to stop. Legal self-defense is about wisdom – it allows a person to do the minimal amount necessary to escape, stop, or prevent imminent harm – not about killing someone who called us names.

Face it, the whole point of wisdom is to end up with good fruit. People don’t seek wisdom from heaven or anywhere else to end up worse off. The problem, of course, is the definition of “good fruit.” Quite probably, “good fruit” isn’t talking about money, power, fame, and getting our way.

The wisdom from above is impartial. It doesn’t favor people with one skin color, or one set of chromosomes over another. Wisdom isn’t found only among any one group, whether religious, philosophical, or political.

Lastly, wisdom from heaven is sincere, or “without wax.” It doesn’t hide flaws or appear to be what it is not. It doesn’t care if you don’t like it. It doesn’t change to suit us, And if we have wisdom, we’ll have the same traits, even when the going gets rough.