By Kerry Skinner | April 18, 2024 | Comments Off on How Pure is Your Wisdom?
How pure is your wisdom? When you think of the word pure, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of something as pure as gold, clean as pure air, or when thinking of a person as a good, righteous, saintly, honorable, or wholesome being. A person with a pure heart and mind would be a person worthy of being a mentor to others. So, what would it really mean to have wisdom that is pure. James 3:17 states:
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Notice, this wisdom is not of this world, but is from above. To be from above reveals a true definition of God’s wisdom versus the world’s wisdom. In order to have pure wisdom, you must seek it from God. This wisdom is free from any of the contamination of this world. It is not mixed with anything that can make it unclean. It is not tainted with any unwholesome attitude or thought. God’s wisdom is virtuous and moral, righteous and honorable, honest and decent, worthy, blameless, and uncorrupted.
The Christian life represented in the New Testament is to be clean and pure of heart, mind, body, and soul. Jesus condemned the obsession of an external purity that had no connection with the internal heart in Mark 7:1-23 when He explained the things that come from within defile a person, not from the external. Thank God that Jesus cleanses the heart, soul, and body so that believers can be pure in heart.
We need a good dose of James 3:17 in our day! God’s wisdom is first pure. That is, it does not seek its own, it looks for what will help everyone. God’s wisdom is also peaceable. If you are in a room full of people who are attempting to make a decision and it is not peaceful, then wisdom is not at the source of the meeting. Wisdom is also gentle and willing to yield. Many in our day simply want to stand their ground and make sure they get their way. They cannot stand to lose. Their spirit is aggressive instead of gentle. They certainly see no benefit in yielding. Our world needs a wisdom that is full of mercy and good fruit, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
So, how does your wisdom measure up today? Make sure you are not depending on earthly wisdom but rather are turning to God for a wisdom that is out of this world!
