Wisdom for spiritual maturity and growth is given to us through the Spirit of Truth who indwells all those who have surrendered their lives to God by faith in Christ Jesus. Still there are times when we need to acknowledge that we are lacking in spiritual wisdom, and James 1:5 reminds us that we can go directly to God and ask for it – and He will grant it without criticizing (or even reminding us how we may not have used the wisdom He granted before!).
James will dive a bit deeper into wisdom in Chapter 3. He begins that section of his letter by talking about how difficult it is to control the tongue. He ends that section talking about the wisdom that is from above.
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.” [vs 13 NKJV]
I love how this wisdom, described in the NKJV as “meekness of wisdom” is described in the HCSB. “Who is wise and has understanding among you? He should show his works by good conduct with wisdom’s gentleness.”
“Wisdom’s gentleness!” The word is prautés and it means just that – gentleness. It is derived from the root “pra-“ that emphasizes the divine origin of this meekness or gentle strength. It expresses power with reserve and gentleness.
Our good conduct, our behavior exhibited to those around us must contain wisdom’s gentleness. It is never to be arrogant or divisive. It never puts others down, but instead is designed to show truth with compassion and kindness that lifts others up.
May we always have and demonstrate wisdom’s gentleness in our daily walk with God. Amen
