James 3:17-18-
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
That title got your attention, I bet. What about it though
caught your attention? Did I have you at hello? Or was it the obvious danger
factor implied by rabid squirrels and raccoons? Hopefully, you realize that if
you were ever to see said rodents, you would know better than go out and touch,
pet or adopt these creatures. That would be something we theologians call
“unwise”. It is just an illustration,
but go with it for now.
The verses
in James 3 are just full of wisdom and such, even though it may say “thou shall
not touch rabbit rodentia”. It does,
however, talk about controlling your tongue, wisdom and other things (it is a
really short chapter. Go read it again).
Verses 17 and 18 are in a way the conclusion of James’ spiel on
wisdom.
“But the
wisdom that comes from Heaven is first of all, pure, then peace-loving,
considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” That there,
would be a good closing thesis (at least I, a high school student think so) to
a paper titled “Why you should be Wise”. I am not sure how exactly one could
take a different spin off of what this is saying, so, here is James 3:17-18 in
a nutshell – Be wise. That means be pure. Be Peace-loving. Be considerate,
submissive and full of good mercy. Be impartial and sincere. This, as Jesus
said, will bear “good fruit” (yet another thing wisdom is).
So, while
you are reading this, pray for God to help you live wisely; to show compassion
and mercy, to be peace-loving and considerate.
Pray that God will show you (and help you) how to live as one who has
wisdom – Go reread those verses, pray and avoid all rabid rodents.
Answer This:
1. Tell your own recent "rabid animal" story - something you did that was just so dumb and unwise that you're embarrassed to even tell people about it.
2. How do you define "wisdom".
3. Where is the best place to find wisdom.
4. What do I mean if I say that "wisdom is not just knowing the right thing to do" ?
2. How do you define "wisdom".
3. Where is the best place to find wisdom.
4. What do I mean if I say that "wisdom is not just knowing the right thing to do" ?
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Written by Caleb Cleck
The other day I almost broke something because I was unwise and dumb. I was tossing things onto my bed because I didn't feel like getting up and placing them on my bed and because it was fun to do. It was all going well until I tossed something a little too hard and far, and it crashed into a picture that was on my wall. Needless to say, I learned how unwise I was when I almost broke a picture.
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