17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 18And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Wouldn’t it be great to have the wisdom of Solomon? We do have it, as recorded in the book of Proverbs and his other writings; it is there for us to study and live by. As part of Scripture, his wisdom is inspired—it comes from God. All wisdom, of course, is God’s wisdom, but the avenue by which we attain it may differ, and James gives us a NT path in his letter. In particular, wisdom of God is here described in contrast to so-called wisdom of the world (as seen in the previous verses). Just like Solomon, James presents this teaching in black and white, to emphasize the stark difference.
Wisdom from God is distinguished from that of the world by a few markers:
- Pure – unpolluted, uncorrupted, and untainted by that which is unwise
- Peaceable – non-belligerent, diplomatic
- Gentle – non-malignant, tolerant, courteous
- Reasonable – willing to yield to others’ wisdom
- Full of mercy and good fruits – aligned with the fruit of the Spirit
- Unwavering – literally: impartial, not showing favoritism
- Without hypocrisy – genuine, sincere, not given to a double standard
Notice how much of the above description has to do with personal relations. Wisdom is conveyed by the tongue, what we say to others, and how we deal with conflict, status, and the whole realm of interpersonal issues that arise among people in community. Remove any one of these markers of godly wisdom and imagine what would happen. For example, we may do everything right in a particular situation, but one unwise word or action can undercut all our otherwise godly effort.
It would be easy to passively ask God to produce these wisdom markers in our lives. However, as with the fruit of the Spirit, we are commanded, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25 ESV). We are to make the effort to cooperate with what God wants to do in our lives. So while we must ask God for wisdom (James 1:4), it is our responsibility to think, speak, and act wisely, keeping in step with the wisdom that comes to us from above. God does not just deposit wisdom in us in order to let it stagnate; He wants us to use that wisdom in the way that characterizes it as “from above.”
Lord, I commit to learning Your wisdom, to speaking and acting wisely.
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