Eight Critical Components of Wise People.

Do you have them?

Lots of people claim to be wise, but simply making the claim does not actually make one wise. So how can we know who is truly wise? This was the question that James asked and answered in his letter to the church when he asked, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” and then answered it by saying, “By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”  In other words, wisdom is revealed of those who have it by how they live their lives.

In verses 17 and 18, James continues to explain what true wisdom looks like by listing 8 core ingredients to be on the lookout for in determining who is wise and to examine ourselves by as well.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial sincere. (James 3:17-18)

Let’s take a moment to look at each of these components:

1.    Pure.

Comment: The word pure comes from the same root word that we get “holy” from. It has to do with moral purity and right motivation. In the context of James, the wisdom from above is revealed by its purity. Godly wisdom is not driven by bitter jealously, selfish ambitions, and envy, but instead is pure.

Even good conduct may come from bad motives, but Christians are to inspect not only their conduct but also their hearts to make sure that their motivations are pure.

Question: What is your motivation for doing what you do?

Answer: Barnabas gave money to the Apostle Peter, and Ananias and Saphira did as well. This in and of itself was good; however, they had different motivations: one was pure, and the other was impure. Or consider Simon the Magician, who desired to bestow the Spirit upon people like the Apostles, but his motive was not pure.

2.    Peaceable.

Definition: Peaceable – inclined to avoid arguments and feuds and instead to strive for harmony with oneself and with others.

Comment: Sometimes we romanticize the early church and think that it was a time of blissful unity; however that was not the case at all. The early church faced many challenges, and the apostles had to remind and even bring correction to believers quite often in this area. The clear enemy of the early church were those who sought to destroy peace and bring division. The constant call of the disciples was to peace. This means that even professing Christians need to be aware of such dangers and to analyze ourselves to see if we are peaceable.

App.: This can be a good reality check on yourself. Ask yourself, Am I peaceable? Do I cause conflict or harmony with others? Do I desire peace? Do I help make peace among my family, friends, and church?

3.    Gentle.

Definition: Gentle – a kind and humble person who is not given over to harshness

Question: Before today, if you had to list 8 attributes of wisdom, would you have written down “Gentleness” as one?

Answer: Most likely not, but God certainly did, as he inspired the words of James.

Question: Would your friends, family, and church family describe you as a gentle person?

Answer: Hopefully so, but if not, then there is a good chance that you are not walking in “wisdom from above.”

Questions: How do you respond to insults? How do you respond when you have been sinned against? How do you respond when someone offends you?

Answer: It is easy to be gentle when everything is going your way, but it is during the difficult times when gentleness is tested and revealed to be present or absent.

4.    Open to Reason

Comment: This has to do with being open to thinking and making suggestions that are different than yours. If someone always has to have it their way or the highway, then this is a sign that they are not wise. Those who are wise remain teachable. Those who are not wise despise being taught.

Question: Do you undervalue other people’s opinions simply because they are not yours? Or are you open to listening and even having your opinions or actions corrected?

Comment: Being “open to reason” is also what is probably hinted at in James 1:19.

James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger…”

Comment: Being slow to speak means that you value the other person and what they are saying without trying to overpower them with your own words.

5.    Full of Mercy

Definition: Mercy - compassion on those who do not deserve it. It is closely tied to forgiveness of others.

Comment: Since God is merciful, then those who claim to have “wisdom from God” should also be merciful to one another. See Eph. 2:4-5 and Ex. 34:6.

Questions: How easily are you offended? How long do you hold a grudge? Are you slow to forgive?

Comment: We may justify our judgmental attitude, holding grudges, and being unforgiving, but such “wisdom” is certainly not from above. Mercy is to be very evident in the life of a Christian.

6.    Full of Good Fruits

Comment: This of course draws from James’ earlier teaching in 2:14-20 regarding good works/fruit. There he laid out two kinds of people, one who claimed to have faith, but there was no evidence of it in their life. Of that person, James says that their “faith” was the same as that of demons and that their faith was dead. Such faith was not saving faith. However, those who truly have faith will have a life that produces good works/fruit that reveals their salvation.

Comment: Not only do good works reveal salvation, but a life abounding in good works reveals true wisdom. James makes his argument again that it is not those who claim to have faith or claim to be wise that possess it, but it is those whose lives reveal it to be so. Anyone can claim to be wise, but living out wisdom in one’s life is the truest test.

7.    Impartial

Comment: Partiality- showing favoritism to come to a decision instead of relying on the facts. Being impartial has to do with not taking sides based upon who the person is presenting their case, but remaining fair and reasoned to come to the right conclusion. Earlier James (James 2:1-13) had accused some of showing partiality to the rich and treating those that were not wealthy poorly. Such favoritism, James says, was against the Christian faith and against the Royal Law of how to treat others.

Now James reveals impartiality as being an attribute of those who have “wisdom from above.”

Question: What does impartiality look like on a practical level?

Answer: Do you hear the facts of a matter before making a judgment? This could be done between 2 of your kids, between friends, or whoever. Being impartial means that you take time to carefully reason through the facts without giving one person a leg up based upon their status.

Comment: Being partial of your own opinion or siding with someone based on anything other than the facts is injustice and unrighteous behavior.

8.    Sincere

Definition: Sincere - Authentic, real, not fake, not a hypocrite or fake. 

Romans 12:9 “Let love be genuine.”

Comment: Wisdom that is marked by sincerity is not fake, but comes forth out of one’s love of God and love of others.

Matthew 23:1-3, 25-28 “1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Comment: The Pharisees and Scribes loved to be seen as wise, but Jesus revealed that they were fakes, not genuine. May this not be true of us.

Summary and Application: The characteristics described here today should be a description of you. Are you pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere, sowing and harvesting peace? Most likely you are not perfect in every one of these areas, but if you are a believer, you should pray for an increase of these characteristics of Godly wisdom in your life. Do quarreling and conflict surround you? Do you find yourself quarreling with believers more than edifying and encouraging them? Then most likely attention needs to be given to your lack of wisdom in the area of making peace. Are you known as a harsh person in the way you speak to others or deal with situations? Then pray that you will be more gentle. Do you hold grudges, get offended easily and slow to forgive? Then pray that you would show mercy to others as God has shown you mercy.