Wisdom

For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.  – James 3:16-18

I just saw a quote on social media today that said, “We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom.” I believe this is such a true statement. Humanity has never had such access to information like we do in the present, yet it might be safe to say that humanity has never struggled more with knowing how to think, not just what to think, and allowing wisdom to produce discernment. I heard in a talk one time by an Oxford professor that “non-sense is still non-sense even when given by an intelligent person.”

We as a culture are starving for wisdom, but wisdom will not be found through the mass of information that we have at our fingertips or through what our emotions tell us. Wisdom is only found from above given by God producing good fruit in our character. What we need more of today is leaders leading from good character not just mere talents, and followers following the wisdom and character exemplified in their leaders. As the verse below says, wisdom is first pure, but we live in a culture where purity is being lost and scoffed at. We see more and more selfish ambition and envy rearing their nasty heads and producing chaos and disorder. The more we push God out of our society and even in our churches the less we will see wisdom and the fruit which it produces.