Signs Of Wisdom | Am I Wise?

I’ve never considered myself to be smart.

Even though I made nearly perfect grades and earned scholastic awards in college,  it was my memorization skills and not my brain power that won the accolades.

As a young woman, I  pretended to know things, but that just made me appear arrogant and boastful.

When my three daughters turned out to be really smart, I gave up trying to fake having brains altogether.

Today, even my grandchildren know more than I do about planets, geography, and math.

But that’s okay with me, because I don’t care that I’m not all that smart.

I want to show signs of wisdom.

The truth is, we can know a lot of stuff and still not be wise.

That’s because spiritual wisdom isn’t found in textbooks or Google searches and YouTube doesn’t have a tutorial for it. Granted,  the knowledge we gain from those sources can be valuable and life-changing—but knowledge by itself doesn’t make us wise.

Spiritual wisdom surpasses knowledge, and it comes from God.

A  woman who shows signs of wisdom must have more than Bible knowledge.

She can’t just know about God.

She must know Him.

 

SIGNS OF WISDOM

1. A woman with signs of wisdom knows God has begun to think like Him 

Several years ago, my family prepared to move to Houston, Texas from the Mississippi home we’d lived in for 25 years.

At the time, my husband was already working at his job in Houston during the week and  he traveled home to Mississippi on weekends.

Since his short weekends at home were jam-packed with projects he needed to do in preparation for our move, Mike had uncharacteristically begun to dump tools and supplies in our garage before rushing back to Houston.

Over time, the garage became so overrun with stuff, Mike could no longer park his truck inside. And that wouldn’t look good to potential home buyers.

So, I faced the monumental task of straightening a garage that was a complete wreck.

In one corner, a stack of storage boxes rose to the ceiling. In another corner, boxes of dancewear from a recent business venture begged to be sorted. Paint supplies and tools were scattered everywhere.

As I surveyed the complete mess in the space reserved for my husband’s truck, I felt an overwhelming urge to scoot as much as I could to one side, make a spot for his vehicle, and be done with it.

But I knew that wasn’t what my husband would do.  As a perfectionist, his mantra has always been “anything worth doing is worth doing right.”

Doing it his way

So, I took a deep breath and got to work.

First I gathered tools and supplies and drug them all the way out to my husband’s workshop.  Next, I made piles for thrift store donations and piles for the dump.  Then I re-organized boxes and placed items back on shelves.

Finally, I went the second mile and hauled the donations all the way to the thrift store. Then I swept the garage.

At the end of the day, I was dirty and exhausted. But our newly-organized garage now had plenty of room for both vehicles.

When my husband arrived home from Houston later that evening, I strutted like a rooster as he admired my hard work.  And his satisfaction was my reward.

I could have shifted enough boxes around to make our vehicles fit inside. Or I could have hired a professional organizer.

But because I loved my husband, I preferred to clean the garage as he would have done it.

 

2. A wise woman chooses to do things God’s way

She knows more than the Bible. She knows the Author of the Bible. And because she loves Him, she longs to please Him.

That’s how a wise woman’s life begins to reflect who He is:

 

But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy

James 3:17

 

As tempting as it is to measure myself against all the women I admire on social media or in my friend groups, I’ve learned I’m a lot better off comparing myself to this wise woman.  That’s the only way I can see clearly where I’ve fallen short from being who I really want to be.

 

A TEST FOR SIGNS OF WISDOM

So, if you’d like to take this little test along with me, let’s take a closer look at this wise woman and look at our own hearts to see if we are:

 

• Pure

If we know scripture but lead a life filled with constant and willful sin, we have knowledge but we’re lacking wisdom.

 

• Peaceful

Do you strive for harmony, or are you constantly stirring up strife and problems? Is your home a haven from the chaos of the world?  Are you at peace with God and do you strive to be at peace, as much as is possible, with everyone around you?

 

• Gentle

Are your words normally harsh or do you try to speak the truth in love? Not that helpful and loving words won’t sometimes hurt, but they won’t harm.

 

• Friendly

Are you approachable? Do you lack a self-righteous attitude that’s characteristic of a person who has only knowledge?

 

• Compassionate

Are you concerned with others and do you use your time to reach out to help others?

 

• Unprejudiced

Do you understand that every single person is a unique creation of God, loved by Him and desired by Him? And does that truth direct how you treat others who may be different from you?

 

• Authentic

Do you strive to be honest with God and honest with others?  A wise woman is secure in her identity in Christ, her purpose, and her calling, and that enables her to be real, not hypocritical.  Instead of looking for the approval of others, a wise woman is concerned about having an audience of One.

A woman filled with wisdom is obedient to God’s commands.  They form the foundation for her life. There’s no disagreement between what she says she believes and the life she lives. Not just on the outside, but in her private life as well. Her words and her behavior are in agreement, whether or not anyone is looking.

 

Am I wise?

I don’t know about you, but I find a lot of areas in myself where I want to look more like this wise woman.

But if you don’t measure up, don’t be discouraged. Instead, let’s allow this to motivate us to fall more and more in love with the One who will give us a heart of wisdom. And let’s ask Him to make us wise.

 

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5, HCSB

 

Now that would make us really smart:)