James 3:10-18
My friends, this can’t go on. A
spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it?
Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t
bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole
and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Do you want to be
counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live
well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you
talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that
you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound
wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal
cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than
others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends
up at the others’ throats.
Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with
a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is
gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one
day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust
community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you
do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other
with dignity and honor.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
The 80-year-old sister of one
of our dear friends passed away recently in Kentucky. Unfortunately,
we never had the pleasure of getting to know her. As I read this
woman’s obituary online, I sorely regretted that our paths never
crossed. She apparently possessed real wisdom. In fact, in one
paragraph, her children wrote...”she faced adversity with courage, class
and integrity; she was unyieldingly honest, unless being so would cause
needless pain.”
A few lines later, the writers noted…”Martha
had, by turns, the humility of a pauper and the dignity of a manor-born
aristocrat. She could, and joyfully did, instantly relate to the
youngest of children and the oldest of the infirm. From the Bluegrass
society matron, down to a homeless man, Martha related to them all, and
she did so without guile, condescension or calculation. She cared, and
people knew it instinctively. And they loved her for it.”
This is
quite a legacy. These were the accomplishments that were noted about
this woman by people who knew and loved her. They briefly cited her
education at Hendrix College in Arkansas…and her love for poetry. But
they didn’t talk of her career – or even any accolades or awards she
might have garnered over the years for civic involvement or service of
some kind. And yet, I felt like I got a complete picture of this woman,
because the children showed me her heart…and her wisdom.
Stop
and consider how others see you. What do they think when your name is
mentioned? Do they instinctively know that you care? Do they think of
you as kind and wise…humble and genuine…someone who is consistent, lives
with dignity, and treats all people as equals? Does your life seem to
others to be holy and filled with God’s wisdom?
Or do you give
people a reason to doubt what you say and do? Are you up one day and
down the next…changing your mind – and your attitude - with the wind?
Is it all about you? Do you set yourself up as an expert or
authority…and then berate or criticize those who fail to follow your
lead? Are you ever even a little bit judgmental and condescending?
How
are you representing God’s wisdom? Could even some of the same things
that were said about this woman be said of you? As important as it may
seem to be remembered well, it is even more critical how you conduct
your life today…here…now. It matters greatly whether you operate in
God’s wisdom…or your own folly. Which are you demonstrating?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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