But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

James 3:17

Making good decisions is good. But making wise decisions is even better. Wisdom is something that is earned through experience. It only comes after one has faced many trials and has made it out alive in one piece. Wisdom is given to the strong at heart, not to the complainers or the ones looking for an easy way out. We can’t all be wise.

This is what people generally think about wisdom. But through my adventure of getting to know God’s Word better, I get the feeling that how we usually define wisdom isn’t at all what wisdom is.

The trusty Word of God tells us this –

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

So, we don’t have to say “been there, done that” to be wise. We don’t have to be strong. We don’t even have to earn wisdom. All we have to do is ask. And one more thing –

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6-8

True wisdom can’t be from us. If we look back at James 3:17, it’s 1,000,000% clear that wisdom isn’t a product made by humans.

Wisdom from above is pure. It is clean and not harmful in any way. Let’s get real. On our own, we couldn’t even come close to being pure. We need Jesus. We need His grace from above. His act of sacrifice is what washes us clean and makes us white as snow.

Wisdom from above is peaceable. It doesn’t want to cause any more chaos and strife than there already is. It calms situations. It puts situations into perspective. It makes decision-making easy.

Wisdom from above is gentle. This is the one that gets me. Gentleness. I was absolutely not born with gentleness. I definitely don’t have a quiet nature or do I approach things in all fairness. But that’s exactly what God does. He takes the old and makes it new. He takes the ugly and makes it beautiful. He takes the not so gentle and makes it gentle.

Wisdom from above is reasonable. The Stong’s Concordance defines this word. as it is used in the Bible, as easily obeying and compliant. Reasonable = obedience. All I know is that the day I started obeying anyone on this planet and my Heavenly Father was the day that I truly believed in Jesus Christ’s transforming power and crazy love for me. Before I knew of His love, I was a disobedient, immature, foolish child. I disobeyed everyone and everything around me, if that’s even possible. Oh, but thank You, sweet Jesus, for changing my life!  This wisdom, given from Him, is reasonable; it’s easily obeyed.

Wisdom from above is full of mercy and good fruits.  FULL of mercy. That’s a lot of mercy. Mercy is compassion. It’s loving even though someone seems not to deserve that love. Human nature doesn’t like to show mercy. But Jesus in humans shows mercy left and right. Jesus in humans leads believers to go to crazy lengths to love the people of this world to get them back to the Creator of this world. And good fruits. How can a person on their own produce long-lasting, and satisfying fruits? They can’t. No matter how much good I try to do so that more good will come from it can’t compare to when I humbly and truly commit my days to the Lord. When He is in the picture, He produces the fruit easy. When it’s just me in the picture, I’d be lucky to produce an acorn, which is pretty much the food for hungry squirrels. I’d rather produce good fruits with the help from above than an acorn on my own.

Wisdom from above is unwavering. It can’t be shaken. It’s certain. It doesn’t think twice and it knows and believe what is truth. To be unshakeable, to make decisions in confidence, to know that the powers working for us from above are basically giving us all the answers to life’s hardest questions, that’s the life of a faithful servant who asks the Lord for wisdom from above.

Wisdom from above is without hypocrisy. I wouldn’t have expected this in the list of qualities of wisdom. So if I ever give anyone some “wisdom,” but am not very honest about it, and can’t follow it myself, this wisdom must not be from above. True wisdom is sincere and heartfelt. This wisdom compels us to think twice about the motives of what we do. It’s all about being intentional.

Pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy – all things that don’t add up to me, but all things that add up to who my Savior is. Without Him, we can’t achieve much. I’d like to describe wisdom from above as a different set of eyes. Eyes that are focused on eternal things, not temporal. Eyes that see the bigger picture. The closest set of eyes to God’s eyes – that’s wisdom. Even if we can’t perfectly define the word, all we need to know is this: if we ask in faith for it, He is faithful to give it to us. So whatever wisdom is, whether it be going through trying times and living to help another through the same experience, or even God giving us words and directions when we don’t have any, I’m assured that it comes from Him.

If you’re looking for wisdom, ask Him in faith knowing that you can’t do this life on your own. If you’re wanting wisdom, whatever it may be, put your faith in Jesus Christ who gives to all generously and without reproach. He is ready to give you wisdom, all you have to do is ask and believe.