The Beatles Had It Right

So I was reading in James today, James 3 to be exact, and James 3:17 stuck out to me especially...

"But wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

Wisdom is something I have been praying for a lot recently, but I think I had it wrong. When I thought of wisdom I was thinking of it as a more knowledge-based concept. Wisdom meaning knowing, being aware of God's plans or more aware of who He is, being able to understand the difficult concepts of His Word. This passage says that wisdom is so much more than that, it isn't just a part of your life, it's a lifestyle.

It is pure. This could be interpreted to mean so many things, but I think it applies a lot to ones thoughts and actions, to keeping sin out of ones life. Of course this isn't possible, sinlessness is an impossible perfection to achieve. The inability to ever be sinless does not mean it one shouldn't strive for it, though! Purity in spirit, in mind, and in deed should be something we search for and strive to have in our lives.

Wisdom loves peace. That seems pretty straightforward, right? But I think it's a lot more complex than we may immediately realize. Peace-loving means conflict-hating. Easy, right? We hate war and fights, most people do. But there's more. To hate conflict means hating arguments and strife. It also means working to avoid those things. This is definitely something I need to work on, especially with my family. As the oldest sibling, I am used to being in charge and right. And I want to be right. When someone says something I don't agree with, I'm quick to contradict them. I give my opinion freely, even when it isn't wanted. Rather than walking away from an argument, I want to win it. These are not the actions of one who hates conflict and loves peace! If we really analyze our lives, we will see how often we go towards conflicts, though on a smaller scale than a world war. Peace-loving means giving up our pride and desire to be right, not saying or doing things that could start discord, and sometimes just letting things slide.

Wisdom is considerate. That means putting others first. As Christians there's a pyramid of importance and who the most attention should be paid towards. Jesus is first. Others are second. We are last. We're the lowest on the totem-pole, the one who should be put last. My parents always told me as I was growing up, "others first!" This was such an annoying thing. It meant I had to let others pick a cookie first, or what crayon color they wanted, or which picture they wanted to color. Often times this meant they picked the biggest cookie that I had my eye on first, or the color or picture I had been dying to use. Others first didn't really benefit me, but maybe in the grand scheme of things it did. If I had taken the time to notice, and maybe I did, I can't remember, me not getting the picture I wanted meant someone else did, and that meant someone else got a lot of joy from it. So maybe in the moment I wasn't satisfied, but making someone else happy is so much more satisfying in the grand scheme of things than the momentary pleasure I could have gotten from the biggest cookie. The cookie gets eaten, and its gone. You won't remember the size of it later. But the look of joy on someone's face when you let them have the biggest one, that will last far, far longer. Putting others interests before your own, thinking about others feelings, and choosing to think of how your actions will affect others...that's wisdom.

What else? Wisdom is submissive. Ooooh. That's a hard one. Especially for girls, I think. There's such a negative connotation with the word. Submitting to someone seems like just giving up your will, letting someone control you, not being a free individual. We really cherish our freedom and individuality. I don't think that's what this verse is saying. I think it is a lot more about humility, listening to authority, and humbly accepting punishment when we have done wrong. It's about letting people speak into our lives when we are straying from God and listening to them. It's also about submitting to authority, whoever or whatever it may be. It's not bout giving up our freedom, it's about being respectful and humble.

Wisdom, too, is merciful. This is one of the primary characteristics of God, which we are to embody. I don't know all of what being a merciful person entails, but I think a big part is caring for others and forgiving. It's like when I was a little kid. My parents gave us spankings when we had done something wrong that merited more than a little "talking to." Sometimes, though, we didn't have to receive the spanking. We definitely deserved it, and we knew it. That was the justice. We had done something wrong and we were to get our just deserve. If we were given "mercy" every time, it wouldn't be mercy. We would know we weren't going to actually get in trouble and our bad behaviour would only increase. Every once in awhile, though, receiving forgiveness without the punishment was merciful. We truly appreciated this grace, not having to receive the punishment we knew we deserved. That's merciful. Forgiving others and caring for others is part of wisdom. If we see someone who deserves to be in the sad state they are in, we can mercifully still love them. We can give money or food to the homeless, we can help people in prison. We can accept people for who they are, no matter what their sins or sinful pasts are. That's what Jesus does. He doesn't judge, he doesn't scorn, he doesn't condemn, he only loves.

Wisdom is full of good fruits. When I read this my mind immediately jumped to the Fruits of the Spirit, so here they are:

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

Wisdom is impartial. I take this to mean it does not show favoritism. This means being fair and just. Not helping one person because you like the way they dress or the style of their hair more than the other. We are to love all equally, no matter what their past, present, or potential future may be.

Wisdom is sincere. So be real. Don't hid behind a veil of perfection, sinlessness, or godliness. Don't pretend you are rich. Don't act like one person in one place, and another somewhere else. Don't pretend you aren't a Christian in some circles for fear of what some may think. Don't change who you are for the people you are with. Be real. Be yourself. Admit your faults, sins, and imperfections (because everyone has them, especially me). Live a life for Christ and don't ever hid Him. So I guess, just be true. Don't lie or falsify who you are or what you believe in. What you say in one group, say in another group. Who you are around one person, be around everyone else.

So wisdom isn't just some magical thing that God only grants to a select few. It is definitely something to pray for, and something to work towards. It isn't one quality in and of itself, it is a whole host of things that every Christian should incorporate into their lives. It's not a trait, it's a lifestyle. So live a life of purity, love of peace, consideration, submissiveness and respectfulness, mercy and good fruits, impartiality, and sincerity, and above all else, love people and Jesus with all you have in you. The Beatles had it right..."love is all you need."