Read with Me
James 3:13-18 (HCSB)
Who is wise and has understanding among you? He should show his works by good conduct with wisdom’s gentleness. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t brag and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 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.
Listen with Me
James continues his topic of ways in which the state of the heart shows itself in the actions and attitudes of the body. Just as a criticizing and harsh tongue betrays a bad heart, so does the type of wisdom a person operates under.
Many people are considered intelligent and wise by those who belong to the world. And those people can often have great financial and political success, which verifies their “wisdom” in the eyes of many.
But if you dig down, you will find that the wisdom that they have is mere human wisdom, underlaid by envy and selfish ambition. James minces no words when he states directly that that kind of wisdom is worldly, unspiritual, and even demonic. It leaves God out of the equation entirely, focused entirely on self and on attaining power, control, and worldly wealth.
James contrasts this worldly wisdom with the wisdom that comes from heaven, the kind that Jesus himself demonstrated and that the early Church was built on. This wisdom is not demonic, but pure, seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and relying on him to provide all else that is truly needed (Matthew 5:33). It is not combative but peace loving. It is not self-seeking but considerate and submissive to God’s authority and direction. It is merciful to those along the way who are in need. It is not biased but impartial, treating each person not on the basis of who they are, or of whatever category their external traits like gender and skin color place them in in other people’s minds, but on the basis of them being a human being made in the image of God.
This divine wisdom allows all the fruit of the spirit to shine forth in a person’s life as they pursue not their own agenda but God’s. The result is peace with all who are willing to be peaceful, and a life of genuine righteousness.
It is tempting to believe that people like this cannot achieve any success in business or politics, or any public enterprise, that they would be destroyed by the dog-eat-dog dynamics of those areas of life. But that is not true in the least. All one has to do is to look at the lives of people like Joseph and Daniel, Job and Boaz to see men who were honored and respected by all who knew them, men who were successful in politics, and whose opinion was considered authoritative in the public policy debates of their time.
Pray with Me
Father, there seems to be a real dearth of this kind of divine wisdom, this kind of godly character where it is most desperately needed right now. Day after day we are bombarded by stories highlighting the corruption and self-interest of our political leaders, our sports idols, and the opinion shapers of our day. There are thankfully a few who do have a great character among them, but they don’t get such positive press and are even ridiculed by those in the mainstream media. It’s important to realize though that the men You mentioned above didn’t get to be those men of godly authority without a lot of struggle that led them to rely on You above all else. Lord, raise up a new generation of godly men and women to lead our people into the future, for the sake of Your people, and the people of our nation and of the world. Amen.