"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James 3: 17)
In 2010, Frank Bourassa was exposed as the most prolific currency counterfeiter in US history. He was not caught until he had printed more than $250 million in $20 notes. Bourassa had gone to great lengths to produce his fake money, but it was inevitable that he would be caught eventually. A British media house reported police officers as saying, “The notes were so good they were barely detectable to the naked eye”.
However good a counterfeit product looks or feels, it is still a counterfeit; it can never be the real thing. The same can be said of the “wisdom [that] descendent not from above”. Apostle James counselled believers to pray for wisdom. He assured them of God’s promise of divine wisdom in answer to the prayer of faith. But there appears to have been some confusion in the mind of certain people in the church as to the nature of heavenly wisdom. He, therefore, had in contrast to earthly, sensual and devilish wisdom. After all, wisdom is justified by the fruits it produces.
Motive is the dividing line between heavenly and earthly wisdom. Earthly wisdom has the vile motives of advantage and domination (i.e. oppression). It tolerates no rivalry or competition; all oppositions must be crushed. The credo of this devilish wisdom is the end justifies the means. So, anything goes.
Conversely, heavenly wisdom is driven by pure motives because it flows from God and is focused on his glory. Divine wisdom is a product of faith; therefore, it does not employ secret and underhand plans or the use of threats and violence to achieve its goals. It is having all the attributes of God infused into it. You can possess this wisdom if you seek it diligently in prayer.
Thought for the day: True wisdom is rooted in the love of God.
1 Timothy 1-6 for further readings.
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