live well, live wisely…

james in chapter 3 verse 13 (gnt), asks a good question.  he asks, are there any of you who are wise and understanding?  now if you go to amazon.com and search for books on wisdom and understanding, you will find a lot of authors who think they have wisdom and understanding and maybe they do. 

now for me after i have had a disagreement with someone and i tell my side it is important that they have understanding  more than agreement and if i am searching for advice i want wisdom more that just experience so both are important to me. so i think it is a very good question.

as we’ll see, james here in his nt book not only asks the question but he answers it in the last part of this verse.  he says (gnt), you are to prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom.

he doesn’t say, just go on the internet and find out how many books they have written or find out how much experience they have or how many degrees behind their name.  no, he says, you prove it by your good life, and by your good deeds that you have done and by how much humility and wisdom you showed when you did them.  the message paraphrase puts it this way, live well, live wisely, live humbly.  then it says, it’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.

so let’s get practical here on the front porch.  do you want to live well, live wisely, live humbly?  then your next question will be what does that kind of life look like?  and that is what james in this section shows us. 

verse 17 says (msg), real wisdom, GOD’s wisdom, begins with a holy life.  in other words, a wise person will not compromise their integrity.  so the question is, do you compromise your integrity?  if you don’t then you’re wise. 

so you see, if i’m really genuine, if i’m wise, i’m not going to lie to you, i’m not going to cheat you, i’m not going to manipulate you, i’m not going to be deceitful.  i’ll be a person of integrity because all relationships are built on trust and respect.  i’m wise and understanding.

dr. leonard keeler, the man who invented the lie detector, tested 25,000 people and came to the conclusion that people are basically dishonest.

now i think it is pretty foolish to not tell the truth, to be dishonest.  do you realize how hard it is to remember all of the lies you have said?  it is hard work.  solomon the wisest person whoever lived said in his book of proverbs in 10.9 (niv), the man of integrity walks securely and the message says, honesty lives confident and carefree.  in other words you are wise to not compromise your integrity.

just a beginning thought from the front porch…