Wisdom’s gentleness

James 3:13 says, “If you consider yourself to be wise and one who understands the ways of God, advertise it with a beautiful, fruitful life guided by wisdom’s gentleness. Never brag or boast about what you’ve done and you’ll prove that you’re truly wise.”

Last week we started talking about wisdom. Not relying on our own wisdom and our “ability” to eat around the nuts but trusting God and seeking His wisdom. God’s wisdom doesn’t always align with our earthly wisdom. God’s wisdom says, “Wait on the Lord” earthly wisdom says, “It’s go time! I’m free! I’m out of the cocoon!” That’s a story for another time, lol. God’s wisdom says, “Tithe”, earthly wisdom says, “Keep it, you need it.” There are plenty examples but I will not go into them all.

The short story is, what sometimes seems logical to us is not always the best thing to do. I had a situation recently, my earthly wisdom told me to do things one way. Which was to take control of the situation, have some stern conversations, say a few things that could have later required repentance and so on. But thank God, God stepped in. No one seemed to be available including my boss who I wanted to talk to before I went on the war path.

As a result, I was forced to wait. To sit. To calm down and then eventually I prayed. As I was praying, I remembered the verse that says if anyone lacks wisdom, they can ask God for it (James 1:5). So, I asked for wisdom and I realized there were other options on how we could proceed. By the time my boss was back in the office, I was calm and was clear on a way forward that would benefit everyone. I had received godly wisdom.

I apologize if this is too real for you but being Christian does not exempt us from living life. We get annoyed, we get angry but we are to remember that whilst we may have every right to be angry, we are told not to sin in our anger (Ephesians 4:26).

Earthly wisdom sometimes says, “You know what, they have it coming” or “they deserve it”, godly wisdom says forgive and find a way to move forward. Don’t get stuck. Our verse today uses the words “wisdom’s gentleness”. There is a gentleness to God’s or godly wisdom. It knows when to speak and when to be quiet. It knows God’s timing to do things, doesn’t run ahead or lag behind. Godly wisdom is a necessary guide for our lives.

Our verse ends by telling us to never brag or boast about what we’ve done and we’ll prove that we are truly wise. That is quite beautiful that humility is considered to be wisdom. There is a gentleness that attaches itself to humility. A life tempered by humility enables us to draw closer to God and get the help we need in every situation.

I hope you have a blessed week.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano