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The wisdom that is from above, or from God Himself, is always good.
Earthly wisdom is not.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. James 3:17 NKJV
ASKING GOD FOR WISDOM
We have here the list of what we can expect when we ask God for wisdom. He does, in fact, tell us to ask Him for wisdom. (See James 1:5.) When we have a decision to make, or in the course of daily living, it is important to seek God’s wisdom and guidance.
PURE
The wisdom from God is pure.
There is no evil thinking, lurid thought, or unkind motive here. All that is innocent and pure comes from God.
PEACEABLE
Secondly, we have wisdom that is peaceable. There is no warring, fighting, struggling for selfish desires, or striving to hurt others. Peace and the pursuit of peace are qualities that come to the fore in this given wisdom.
GENTLE
We see gentleness next. No angry, upsetting, hurtful words are here. A gentle answer and quiet spirit are found. Not to say that one is not to stand in strength for what is right. We remember a righteous Jesus who drove the cheating money changers from the Temple. There is a difference between standing for what is right and thus, being firm with evil and yet holding to gentleness with those not harming others.
WILLING TO YIELD
A willingness to yield is next. While we are not to be double-minded and wavering, we are to be willing to yield to another’s preferences WHEN THEY ARE NOT COMPROMISING GOD’S LAW.
We are to be fair and kind and put others first without giving up convictions that God has laid upon our hearts from His Word.
FULL OF MERCY
Mercy is vital and makes the list. To show mercy is God-like. He forgave us and we are to forgive others. With eyes upon our merciful God, we are to also be merciful.
GOOD FRUITS
Next is listed good fruits. A tree is known by its fruits whether they are good or bad. We, as Christians, are to put forth good fruits, good deeds, kind acts. A follower of Christ who is not doing such things is not a person of faith.
WITHOUT PARTIALITY
Here we are told that getting wisdom from God means that we will not be partial. We will not favor only those who are like us in looks or tastes or education or socially.
We are ALL made in the image of God and are His creation. Therefore, to treat anyone better than another …or worse than another…is sin.
WITHOUT HYPOCRISY
Lastly, we are not to practice hypocrisy. What we say we should do. Our word should hold. We should be unflinchingly honest in all of our dealings and unchanging. We should never say one thing and do another.
The gospels show us that Jesus had a lot to say about hypocrites and none favorable.
THE GLORIOUS LIST AND THE OPPOSITE LIST
Thus, we see quite a list of the kinds of wisdom that come from God when we ask Him for this wonderful, much-needed gift.
This means that all that is NOT pure, NOT peaceable, and NOT gentle is NOT from God.
Those who are unwilling to yield, act unmercifully, do not do good works, show partiality, and are hypocrites are also NOT living in the wisdom from God.
Where does their “wisdom” then come from? Obviously, these opposite qualities of earthly wisdom come from that which is evil and of the world thus from satan and are to be avoided at all costs.
In fact, following satan instead of God will cost us exactly that amount.
It will cost us ALL now and for eternity.0