Read the
passage here.
The wisdom
that comes from heaven sounds awesome.
If you want some of that wisdom put your hand up. Yup – I thought so.
More than
that; I want the people around me to have that wisdom. It sounds very attractive and like my life
would be a lot simpler and pleasant if folk were ‘first of all pure; then
peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial
and sincere.’
The wisdom
of this world seems to be quite the opposite; angry, selfish, argumentative, proud,
ruthless, judgemental and insincere. And
this is what is celebrated. We should of
course yearn after the wisdom that comes from heaven for ourselves but also for
others. We should also, perhaps, be
slower to lift-up those who revel in the world’s wisdom as good examples.
Possible
areas of discussion
Do you have
this wisdom from heaven?
Why would
people boast about their selfish ambition?
What is a
peace-maker?
Is it
possible to ‘get on in the world’ without joining in its ways?
Feel free to
talk about whatever is on your heart.
It's interesting to see that wisdom is characterised hereby what you do and not what you say. We generally see wisdom as an intellectual thing, but James sees it as walking the walk, not (just) talking the talk.
ReplyDeleteGiven that definition, who is wise?
James follows it up with wisdom from heaven which is more action than being intellectual.
I suspect when we get to heaven, it may surprise us to see that the wisest people were those who trust and obey. Once again, heaven's rules surprise us.