True Wisdom

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable , full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. James 3:17 (NASB) Reading through Proverbs every month, I'm getting a pretty solid dose of the instruction to seek wisdom. I think that is what made this verse in James stand out more than it ever has before. As I read this, I realized that there are times when I think I'm chasing after wisdom, but it doesn't necessarily reflect these things. You'd think I would automatically know that it wasn't true wisdom. But I get muddied vision sometimes because I listen to the world's standards of wisdom. A couple of verses back, James calls the world's standard of wisdom earthly, natural, and demonic! Ouch! I could have done without that last word. I mean, really. Earthly is obviously not heavenly, but it's not all that bad, right? Natural - well, we know we're supposed to put to death the natural self so that Christ can shine, but natural isn't so bad. But, demonic! Wow, demonic puts a whole new spin on "earthly" and "natural" doesn't it?! As I seek wisdom, I am challenged to make sure the wisdom I seek holds up to the test of James 3:17. My decision-making skills might grow just a bit if I will commit to hold to this!