wisdom

There are many times when I engage my tongue before my mind is ready. I fail to think ahead and say something disrespectful. Or, when I speak in anger, I later regret it. Other times I may have something significant to offer, but say nothing, concluding instead that the better part of wisdom is in keeping quiet.

I recently finished reading the book of James and on the whole, I think it was written for a local church going through upheaval because a member spoke ill of another member. The third chapter of James says that we cannot tame the tongue. Ill-spoken words, or words spoken in anger can disrupt and destroy families and congregations. It is often hard to not speak disparaging words. In contrast, I notice that Wisdom is talked about in terms of character and is reflected in our actions.

Then I looked closer at what is known as Wisdom. It begins with leading a godly life, and moves on to how we treat others. The person with Wisdom is generally at peace, is easy to get to know, and is reasonable in business relationships. If I were to be more like this godly person, I would add words of kindness to my speech. So I see that Wisdom is more a lifestyle, and is in keeping with godly character, kindness, and compassion.

In the fourth chapter of James, the question is asked, "Where do fights and quarrels come from?" It says they come from pride, and a "what's-in-it-for-me" attitude, all because we don't know how to tame the tongue. I caught a hint in this chapter that when we do things for selfish reasons, Jesus is quietly waiting behind the curtain to catch us when we stumble.  

He is fiercely jealous and feels cheated when we try to do things our way. He wants us to discover what miracles HE can do. The Old Testament phrase is repeated: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So when we pray with doubt, he is undoubtedly waiting for us to humble ourselves.

So we should view things from a godly perspective. Since selfishness is part of our humanness, we need to learn humility. Wisdom for us is to not only watch what we say, but to confess when we act out of pride. 

Proverbs says, "With humility comes wisdom." Humility, total confidence in God's directives for living breeds the Wisdom that tethers our tongue.

–gary kallio