Walking Wisely Real Guidance for Life's Journey

; CHAPTER TWO: ;Earthly Wisdom Versus Godly Wisdom ; ;If someone were to ask you today, "Are you a wise person?" how ;would you respond? ; ;Many people respond, "Well, I'd like to be." ; ;Some people seem to think that wise people are locked away in ;ivory towers-they perceive wisdom to be a function of intellect or brain ;power applied to areas such as philosophy, theology, or psychology. Others ;believe a wise person must be aged. Still others think it is a good thing ;to be wise-but a pretentious thing to admit. They secretly believe they ;are wise but are reluctant to say so because they fear others will think ;ill of them. ; ;If you consider yourself to be a wise person, what is your basis ;for reaching that conclusion? ; ; ; Two Very Different Views of Wisdom ; ;The world and God's Word present two very different views of ;wisdom. From God's perspective, earthly wisdom-human or natural wisdom-is ;grounded in man's fallen nature. Godly wisdom-divine or spiritual wisdom-is ;based upon man's "new nature" given at the time of a person's spiritual ;rebirth (2 Cor. 5:17). ; ;All godly wisdom begins with reverence-an understanding of who ;our sovereign, almighty God is, and out of that understanding, surrendering ;one's will and behavior to Him. There is no alternative foundation on which ;genuine wisdom can be built. ; ;A person may say, "Do you mean to tell me that with all of my ;education and experience, I cannot be wise if I don't receive God's forgiveness ;for my sin and factor God into my life?" That's exactly what I mean to ;tell you! And I say this not out of my own human understanding-that's what ;the Word of God says. Apart from God, a human being cannot function in ;wisdom. ; ; ; The Foundation for Walking Wisely ; ;Proverbs 9:10 tells us, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning ;of wisdom." Fear in this verse refers to reverence for God. Those who fear ;God stand in awe of God. They have at least a glimmer of understanding ;that God is omniscient (all-wise), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent ;(present in every moment and throughout all eternity), and all-loving, ;and that they are not. They stand before God in wonderment and amazement ;that God who is all, has all, and controls all cares, loves, reaches out, ;and blesses the individual human being. To fear God is not to fear God's ;judgment; it is to stand in awe that God has all authority to judge and ;to forgive, to show mercy, and to grant His grace in overflowing abundance. ; ;Spiritual wisdom is given to those who accept Jesus Christ as ;their Savior, commit themselves to following God in obedience, seek to ;develop a relationship with Him, reverence Him, and walk out their days ;submitted to, yielded to, and listening to the Holy Spirit. ; ;Let me ask you . . . ; ;Are you wiser than God your Creator is when it comes to knowing ;how to live a successful life on this earth? ; ;Are you wiser than God who made your body is when it comes to ;knowing how to live in health? ; ;Are you wiser than God who caused you to be born in a specific ;time and place, to a specific set of parents, in a specific set of circumstances ;is when it comes to developing a plan and purpose for your life? ; ;Are you wiser than God who created all natural resources and ;everything of real value on this earth is when it comes to knowing how ;to manage your finances and material resources? ; ;Are you wiser than God who made hStanley, Charles F. is the author of 'Walking Wisely Real Guidance for Life's Journey', published 2002 under ISBN 9780785272984 and ISBN 0785272984.