{"id":6853,"date":"2019-12-25T20:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T03:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=6853"},"modified":"2019-12-22T16:24:15","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T23:24:15","slug":"james3_13-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/james3_13-18\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do I Know If I\u2019m Really Being Wise?"},"content":{"rendered":"

James 3:13-18\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 3:13-18.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

James 3:13a (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life…<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 13a:\u00a0\u00a0Earlier James told his readers to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5).\u00a0\u00a0Now James addresses the question: How do you know if a person is truly wise or not?\u00a0\u00a0Here in verse 13 we learn that wisdom is not so much shown in what facts and figures a person can recite.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rather,\u00a0how much wisdom a person has is shown by the way that person lives and by the decisions that person makes.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Wisdom and being book smart are not the same thing.\u00a0\u00a0Some people are book smart and can tell you all sorts of facts and figures, but when it comes to making life decisions, or handling relationships, time or money, they live very foolishly.\u00a0\u00a0God calls us to be wise and understanding in practical ways that matter the most.<\/p>\n

James 3:13b (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u2026by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 13b:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus says, \u201cwisdom is proved right by all her children\u201d (Luke\u00a07:35).\u00a0\u00a0In other words, you can tell if a person has wisdom by what that person produces.\u00a0 Here in verse 13 we learn that one of the most important things that wisdom produces in us is an attitude of humility.\u00a0\u00a0Humility is the firstborn child of wisdom.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When my thoughts are prideful, arrogant, or self-centered, I know I\u2019m moving in a direction that is opposite to wisdom.<\/p>\n

James 3:14-17 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But 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.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-17: Most people, when making decisions, try to be wise or think they\u2019re being wise.\u00a0 I don’t anyone who would honestly call themselves a fool.\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0how do you really know if you\u2019re really being wise or not?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0James gives us some clues to help differentiate godly wisdom from worldly foolishness.\u00a0\u00a0If the motivation behind a decision you are considering is bitterness (you hold a grudge against someone), envy (you envy what someone else has), or selfish ambition (you live as if the world revolves around you) (v14), then the direction is not from God; it\u2019s foolish living (v15).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0To continue in that direction will only result in \u201cdisorder\u201d (i.e. misery, priorities being out of place, unhealthy relationships and things being outside of the order God would place them in).\u00a0\u00a0It will also result in \u201cevery evil practice\u201d, where you do things that are wrong because you think you have no choice (v16).\u00a0\u00a0Such \u201cwisdom\u201d is no wisdom at all.<\/p>\n

In contrast, a decision is wise when it is characterized by peace, purity, consideration of others, submissiveness to God, mercy toward others, impartiality instead of favoritism, authenticity and other good fruit (v17).\u00a0\u00a0The next time you are making an important decision, run it by these verses to help you determine whether you are heading in wisdom’s ways or not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James\u00a03:18\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 18:\u00a0\u00a0There is a relationship between peace and righteousness.\u00a0\u00a0For example, Psalm 85:10 says, \u201crighteousness and peace kiss each other\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0One thing I\u2019ve learned is that righteousness results in peace.\u00a0\u00a0When I do the right thing, my conscience is at peace.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus came to give us peace by living a righteous life that met all of God\u2019s requirements.\u00a0\u00a0His righteousness results in our peace.<\/p>\n

Now while righteousness does result in peace, verse 18 is talking about the reverse process where somehow peace produces righteousness.\u00a0\u00a0What exactly does it mean for \u201cpeacemakers to sow in peace\u201d and how does that create a \u201charvest of righteousness\u201d?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Here\u2019s how I understand it:\u00a0\u00a0righteousness is really Christ-likeness, for no one is righteous, not even one, except Jesus Christ (Romans\u00a03:10).\u00a0\u00a0When I make an important decision by following the peace of God in my heart (or as David would say, when I \u201cseek peace and pursue it\u201d (Psalm 34:14)), the result is often a good and righteous decision that Christ Himself would make.\u00a0\u00a0Second, when I make peace with others and live at peace with them, the result is a righteous community where Christ\u2019s name is honored and Christ\u2019s presence can be felt.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In these two ways, peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.<\/p>\n

In a way verse 18 is a nice bridge between this chapter 3 and the next chapter, for in the next chapter our attention turns to how we get along in relationships.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word which helps me to decipher whether the decision I am considering is truly godly wisdom, or just worldly foolishness.\u00a0 Thank You for showing me the relationship between peace and righteousness.\u00a0 May I pursue Your peace in all my decisions and relationships, so that Jesus my Righteous One who would glorified and made manifest in all that I do.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 3:13-18.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

James 3:13a (NIV)\u00a0
\n13\u00a0\u00a0Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life…<\/p>\n

On verse 13a:\u00a0\u00a0Earlier James told his readers to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5).\u00a0\u00a0Now James addresses the question: How do you know if a person is truly wise or not?\u00a0\u00a0Here in verse 13 we learn that wisdom is not so much shown in what facts and figures a person can recite.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rather,\u00a0how much wisdom a person has is shown by the way that person lives and by the decisions that person makes.\u00a0\u00a0Wisdom and being book smart are not the same thing.\u00a0\u00a0Some people are book smart and can tell you all sorts of facts and figures, but when it comes to making life decisions, or handling relationships, time or money, they live very foolishly.\u00a0\u00a0God calls us to be wise and understanding in practical ways that matter the most.<\/p>\n

James 3:13b (NIV)\u00a0
\n13\u00a0\u00a0\u2026by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6853"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6856,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6853\/revisions\/6856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}