What is Wisdom, Why is it Important to My Life?
Inside: Wisdom is one of the greatest qualities we can possess. It can drive us towards success, help avoid pain and heartache and lead us to well-being. What is wisdom and how do we become wise? The answer begins with God.
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Friend, I don’t know about you, but I’m on a quest for wisdom! I want to know how to balance life, make good choices and lead my family to the best life possible.
You might have noticed I didn’t say, I’m a quest for knowledge because actually, they are different.
The Difference between Wisdom and Knowledge
What is wisdom versus knowledge?
Knowledge: the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (Merriam-Webster).
We go to school or pick up a self-help book to gain knowledge. Reading our Bibles can also give us knowledge about God and how your lives fit within God’s plan for humanity.
However, wisdom is knowledge, understanding, and application.
We take what we have read about worry, understand it isn’t good for us and then pray during anxious times.
This “understanding” moves us from tips we have learned into making habit changes and sticking to them because we know the benefits of doing them.
Did you know understanding is the greatest quality we can possess according to Proverbs 4:7?
7 Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!
And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.
Why Do We Need to be Wise?
Becoming wise in our lives allows us to make decisions according to God’s commands and it helps us avoid heartache and pain. Wisdom leads us toward success, greater safety, and personal well-being.
Let’s face it, the world is all over the place in trends, practices, and understanding is cloudy. The world seems to minimize and lead us away from God’s ideals by saying:
- Just do it.
- It’s not a big deal.
- Everyone else has done it.
So the evil culture leads us to sin; moving further away from God. Sin isn’t a small deal and one bad choice can affect the rest of our lives.
We know sexual promiscuity is rampant in our culture, but the wise person knows what God says about sex outside of marriage, understands the ramifications if they choose to disobey and decided to wait until they can consummate their marriage on their wedding night.
Doesn't being wise sound like it would save us from a lot of foolish mistakes? #wisdom Share on X
Becoming Wise Sounds like too Much Work?
Whenever we try to step up from the thoughts of the world, it does seem like hard and almost impossible work, but we’re not doing it alone.
While God could give us wisdom overnight as He did with Solomon, must of us will need to desire and work at it for our entire lives. We gain building blocks of wisdom piece by piece as we seek it out from God.
As our relationship with God grows, so does our wisdom! Share on XHow do We Get Wisdom?
- We ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:10).
- By diligently studying God’s Word and apply it (Proverbs 19:20).
- We request wisdom in prayer daily and repeatedly (Proverbs 4:6-7).
- When trials and hard seasons come, we ask God to use the trial to grow us, change us, and make us wiser (Psalm 90:12).
Misused Wisdom
If wisdom is a great quality to possess, why did King Solomon screw up and become the world’s dumbest man?
He made an allegiance to an enemy nation by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter instead of trusting in God to keep his nation safe.
He married many wives and had concubines. In order to keep them happy he built them shrines and idols. He literally followed the saying,” if momma ain’t happy no one is happy.”
The word from the Bible is, Solomon walked away from God and therefore lost all his wisdom.
(Proverbs 9:10, NLT).
10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
The fear of the Lord which means a relationship with Him. It’s making God number one in life regardless of what happens. While gaining wisdom, God still remains important, we don’t ditch God because we think we don’t need Him anymore.
For Solomon, He started by fearing the Lord and following His commands and ended up being led away from God. Solomon became a fool because he no longer listened to or believed God was worthy of his attention.
(Proverbs 5:22, NLT).
22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins;
they are ropes that catch and hold him.
May we heed the example of Solomon and grow in the fear of the Lord never forgetting where the source of wisdom comes from.
God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of ProverbsThe Wisdom of God: Letting His Truth and Goodness Direct Your Steps
God’s Wisdom for Women: Topical Scripture and Encouragement
God’s Wisdom For Your Every Need – Deluxe Edition
Walking in Wisdom: A Love God Greatly Study Journal
Seeking God’s wisdom through prayer is one of the wisest things we can do. Great post, Julie! And this sounds like an awesome study.
It seems I often forget that I can ask God for wisdom! I read Scripture or devotionals or listen to sermons, hoping to gain wisdom. And those definitely are great ways, but how much more will we have wisdom if we ask God?!
Wisdom has been on my heart a lot lately. It helps that I’m also doing Sarah’s bible study, but beyond that I desire to have wisdom and discernment for what God wants me to do so that I’m following His path for my life. And not using my own knowledge as guide.
The older I get the more I crave wisdom. Life is very complicated and I need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to make good decisions!
This is a great way to explain the difference between knowledge and wisdom. You can have a lot of knowledge and no wisdom!
Heather- I agree on that! Book knowledge only takes us so far!
Kirk Cameron said last night that wisdom is making the decision that will please God in any situation. What a way to summarize it, eh?
Dawnmarie- thank you for sharing this! Great summary!
What a great definition!
You really won’t be disappointed! Glad to be sharing in this study with you, Julie! I appreciate your differentiation between knowledge and wisdom. This quote really stands out to me:
“Wisdom moves us from tips we have learned into making habit changes and sticking to them because we know the benefits of doing them.”
Sharing this! : )
Bethany- I’m loving the study too!
The older I get the more wisdom I seek. This has been my New Years Resolution year after year. Great post Julie!
Thank you, Stephanie!
This sight is the best I have ever looked at thank you breatheren for such a wonderful site
Seems there are a lot of unwise people out there today that could really benefit from this blog study. It makes a ton of sense why wisdom would be heralded as one of the best things we can attain, especially for the times in which we live. Thanks for the great post!
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
I’m currently making my way again through the Book of Proverbs; it is one of my favorites. Wisdom is so precious.
I just registered for the Bible study; thank you! I have been on a journey to be wiser with my words; these verses are excellent. Thank you for sharing!
One of the beautiful things about growing older is that, occasionally, I see those moments that are the result of wisdom.
Not that I’ve arrived. I still learn new things all the time. Perhaps a foundation of wisdom is realizing what you still don’t know. Maybe that’s at least a piece of it.
Living with a bit of wisdom is so much better than dealing with the results of my youthful foolishness.
Julie, you have given us a great message for a time of great need for wisdom.
I appreciate your explanation of wisdom: “However, wisdom is knowledge, understanding, and application.” Thankful we can draw on the Spirit and God’s Word so that we can grow in wisdom and discernment. So important not to get sidetracked by worldly and secular slogans, idols, and behaviors. Consistently praying, turning to the Word, being in solid community will help us stay on the narrow path leading to wisdom.
Julie, thanks for reminding us the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Love this: “Wisdom moves us from tips we have learned into making habit changes and sticking to them because we know the benefits of doing them.”
How I pray your description of Solomon will never be me!:
“For Solomon, He started by fearing the Lord and following His commands and ended up being led away from God. Solomon became a fool because he no longer listened to or believed God was worthy of his attention.”
I have always told my children that any investment in education will pay dividends. I had hoped the education would lead to wisdom. Not so. True wisdom comes from God’s laws if only we would follow them
Charlie- yes! Wisdom is from God!