Growing Wise

One of the ways love is shown is wisdom. Love is wise. If that is true, how do you get wisdom? Let me share three ways I have been learning we gain wisdom.

We go to God for it. James 1:5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Joseph asked God to give him the discernment to understand Pharaoh’s dreams. He knew that God would be able to explain what they meant. God has also graciously given us His inspired Word. We gain wisdom by reading it.

For example, let’s look at some wisdom God is passing on through the life of Joseph. God was with Joseph when things were not going right. We tend to think we are doing the wrong thing when things don’t go right. We say things like, “Well I don’t know if this is what God wants me doing we just keep coming up against all these obstacles.” People who cave to thinking like that are never going to be a Joseph. The story of Joseph shows that it is possible to be going in the right direction even when things are not going the way we planned or would like them to. Even in the opposite direction!

In a real sense, the lower you go, the greater your potential to gain wisdom. Joseph, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul all illustrate that truth for us. Jesus was not kidding when He said, I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:15-17). How seriously do we take those words? It’s a rare person who realizes that the way up is to go down.

We listen to people with wisdom. Proverbs 16:23 ( NIV ) says,
A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Wisdom is gained by listening to people who are wise. They could be people you know personally, people you hear at conferences or on the radio, or people you have read. My top ten wise sayings I have found from listening to wise people and reading their books:

Never complain about what you permit.
You will be the same person you are today five years from now except for two things: the people you meet, and the books you read.
Be very careful who you pick as your friends for you will only be as successful as your friends.
To know and not to do is not to know.
The man is the head of the house, but the wife is the neck that makes it turn.
If you are going to be used by God He will take you through a multitude of experiences that aren’t meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands so that you can understand what takes place in the lives of others.
Marriage isn’t 50/50, its 100/100.
Don’t tell me you put God first. Who are you to put God anywhere! He is first whether you like it or not! You realize He is first!
What you do speaks so loudly that what you say I can’t hear.
All people really want to know the answer to three questions: Can I trust you? Do you care about me? Are you committed to excellence?

We gain wisdom through life experience. Charlie Jones was once asked how he got to be so successful. “Good judgment,” he answered. How did you get good judgment? “Experience.” How did you get experience? “Poor judgment.” That was certainly true of Joseph wasn’t it? A lot of his wisdom that gave him the discernment, discretion, and direction to serve a nation was learned from poor judgment.

So, if we want to love one another as Jesus loves us, we need to be lovers and seekers and soakers of wisdom. Wisdom is the moral application and practice of truth in our relationships and responsibilities. Wisdom provides us with discernment, discretion, and direction. God wants us to know that wisdom is so valuable and so necessary to living a life of love that He says Though it cost all you have, get wisdom. We get wisdom in three ways:

By going to God and His Word for it.

By listening to people who have it.

And by our own life experience.