Wisdom

To follow up my last blog about making godly decisions, I wanted to add godly wisdom into making godly decisions. I think it is quite obvious that we need godly wisdom to be able to make godly decisions. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." So, we see from this verse that we cannot lean on our own understanding but in ALL that we do we need to acknowledge Him and trust him to direct us. But if we can't rely on our own wisdom or understanding, then where do we get our wisdom to make decisions? James 1:5-6a says, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting . . .". It's that simple. If we want wisdom from God, we simply have to ask in faith without doubting His Word and He will give it to us GENEROUSLY. Why do we need this kind of wisdom though? The previous verse from Proverbs says that I shouldn't lean on my own understanding, but can't I just read the Bible and just use that as my guide to make decisions? Well, that's a good start, but God's Word says that there are two kinds of wisdom. James 3:13-17 basically compares the wisdom of this world that is earthly, full of jealousy and selfish ambition to wisdom which is from above that is pure, peacable, gentle, reasonable and full of mercy. So along with using the Word as our guide, we need to pray to God for wisdom from above and not use our own wisdom in making decisions. Proverbs 2:1-7a says,"My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright . . .". After reading this passage, we clearly see that it must be our want and desire to receive God's wisdom. This passage shows us plainly what we must do . . . we must MAKE our ear attentive, INCLINE our heart, CRY OUT to God, LIFT our voice, SEEK for understanding, SEARCH for wisdom. These are the actions we must take if we want God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

Along with these biblical principles, I came up with my own little checklist for making decisions:

1) We cannot rely on our own wisdom
2) We must be dead to our own plans, wants, and selfish desires
3) We need to pray for wisdom from God
4) We need to consult the Word of God
5) We need to plan ahead of time to make godly decisions
6) We need to believe in faith that God's plan and wisdom are best
7) We need to act on the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom God gives us
8) We must not waver or back down from decisions we know are right