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“Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you
—Proverbs 4:6.
With all the options and information overload we now experience in this digital era, developing the quality of wisdom is very much needed. You need it to be able to distinguish between what is right for you and what is not; because going through life without wisdom can lead to shame, loss, and regret.
Since we live in an ever-changing world, it can be difficult to decide what is the best choice for your life and the lives that you are responsible for— making it crucial to have wisdom.
Wisdom preserves the life of the one who has it (Ecclesiastes 7:12). It is your protection during times of adversity and helps you to not say things that should not be said or said at the moment. There is a saying, “knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing when to say it.” It also helps you to not do things that will affect you negatively in life.
Wisdom is not automatically acquired after you have reached a certain age. There are individuals who are well in age still making unwise choices. Nor is wisdom only obtained if you have gone through many experiences in life.
Henry Ford said, “failure is simply the opportunity to being again, this time more intelligently.” As true as this statement is, many people go through life experiences and never learn from them.
Wisdom is the ability to discern and use insight to make the right choice. It helps you deal with any situation that you may experience in the best way possible and allows you to know what to do in those impossible situations. And it gives you the insight to manage those complex situations.
Here is a story about how wisdom was able to get Jesus out of a difficult situation.
In the Bible, there was a woman accused of committing adultery and was forced to stand before a group of men, who had knowledge of the Mosaic law, to take responsibility for what she did. In the law, committing adultery was wrong and called for punishment by stoning, but the group of men had a malicious motive and wanted to trap Jesus to see what He would do in this situation.
Agreeing to have this woman punished would have gone against Jesus' teachings on mercy, grace, and forgiveness. And telling the group of men to not punish the women would have caused Jesus to break the law. But Jesus was wise and gave a response that dumbfounded the group of men.
The men said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept on questioning Jesus He stood up and said to the men, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He stooped back down and wrote on the ground. One by one the men started to go away until only Jesus and the women were left standing around (John 8:2-11).
His response to the entrapment allowed Jesus to not break any laws and still uphold His teachings on mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Without wisdom, Jesus would have been ‘caught between a rock a hard place,’ forced to pick a side that would have been equally unpleasant.
With the wisdom that comes from God you too will have a way out of every calamity you will face (Psalm 34:19). Luke 21:15 NLT says, "for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you!"
Wisdom is more than having knowledge, it is being able to apply knowledge in the best way.
Wisdom is something that is given from someone who already has this quality. Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
To get wisdom starts by reverencing God and reading His written word, the Bible (Psalm 111:10). You must reverence and honor God first before you can get wisdom.
So then, what does this say to those that claim to have wisdom outside or absent from God? “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness” —1 Corinthians 3:19 NLT.
Every form of wisdom that is not from God is foolishness [lacks good sense, judgement, or is stupid]. It's not wisdom although it may sound like it is because you don't begin to have wisdom until you reverence God
Then you must read the Bible and obey it to grow in wisdom. Once you read it you get revelatory knowledge. This knowledge manifests itself through your personal life, business, family, relationships, and affairs. You'll notice you are making better decisions because you are getting spiritual direction and understanding.
As you continue to read, you obtain more knowledge which manifests itself in your day-to-day routine. You start to become wiser in your daily decisions, whatever they may be, and know how to judge fairly in the areas that are needed. Then as you continue to read the Scriptures, you grow even more.
This is why the Bible is compared to food, it sustains us and gives us the ability to continue and persevere. It is also a guide to help you mature so you can deal with life’s uncertainties.
There are many life lessons in the Bible that can help you grow in wisdom. Reading the Bible gives insight into everyday affairs. It is what is needed for you to maintain in life. You'll learn from the personal stories of those who have lived life before you. And their experiences will equip you for life.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope —Romans 15:4
Because the Scriptures are relevant, you will always have answers for any area in your life for your family, finances, relationships, personal growth, and for other concerns you may have. You will develop the wisdom needed on how to leave a legacy for your future generation. And to go even further, you'll leave a legacy for your community.
When you move in God’s wisdom you are perceiving things from God’s point of view. This assurance is why God ask you to ask Him for His wisdom (James 1:5). God will give you direction on how to manage your affairs and give you understanding concerning everything in your life.
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord —Proverbs 21:30
When you are using your own intellect, you run into the problem of pride. Most people who are highly intelligent struggle with pride because "knowledge puffs us up..." —Romans 8:1.
In other words, it can make you arrogant. When you are prideful you make mistakes. But with God you will always know the best course to take in life (1 Chronicles 12:32).
When you are operating with the wisdom from God it comes with humility. Being humble and wise allows God to be able to easily help you and protect you from disgrace, shame, or making bad choices.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. — Proverbs 11:2
As we read the Bible, we read about a wise King who made a foolish decision when he ignored the wise counsel from God and instead listened to his own advice (1 King 11). Twice the Lord appeared to King Solomon to warn him to not do the things he was doing; nevertheless, King Solomon disobeyed God and his Kingdom was divided. Half of what was his was taken away.
Ignoring God’s advice affected his generation and an entire nation. It caused him to lose a kingdom which led to the decline of the nation. Further, Solomon deviated from his relationship with God.
Our unwise choices do not only hurt us, but also affect those around us.
Despite the later part of Solomon’s rulership, look at what Solomon was able to do in four years that normally took other leaders their entire reign to accomplish because of the wisdom He ask God for when he first became a leader (1King 3:5-12). Imagine how different our countries state of affairs would be if our leaders (the people in power) ask God for discernment, guidance, and advice in administering justice.
You may be living a lifestyle different from what you had hoped for because of some bad choices that were made in the past and have now impaired your future progress. However, the crippling effect can be reversed as you start to acquire and grow in wisdom.
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” — Proverbs 12:15
To know to ask God for wisdom starts with reading the Scriptures. As you read the Scriptures you are being fed and the more you are fed the more you grow, and the more you grow the better choices you will make in your life.
The key to getting wisdom and living a life of success is to, “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not depend on your own understanding” — Proverbs 3:5.
God is our wise counsel and the One who can help us get our life's back on track.
With God you'll know what to do, get answers to challenging questions, and make the best decisions for your life.
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A call for salvation
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, His spirit will come to live inside you. This is one of the greatest blessings of salvation. You don't have to go through someone else to get to God, and He will live in your heart where you and Him become one and have a relationship.
All you have to do is make the choice of salvation by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus into your life by confessing that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He came from Heaven to die for your sins (Romans 10:9).
Once you have done this, please pray and ask God to guide you to a church where you can grow, mature, and start living the abundant life Jesus promised and died for.
Here's a prayer you can repeat:
"Jesus, I confess that you are Lord, and I believe you died and was risen for my sins. I repent and ask for forgiveness of my sins, and I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. Come into my heart and remove my sins. Thank you for forgiving me and making me into a new person in Jesus' name, Amen."
