James 3:13-18
Wisdom From Above
13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
17But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.
Berean Standard Bible
After a long stretch on the tongue, James asks a question that sounds like a change of subject and is not. The boasting mouth he has just described and the humble wisdom he is about to praise are opposites, so he has gone underneath the problem rather than walked away from it.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
Wisdom, the way James means it, is not how much a person knows or how well he can argue. It is a way of living, shown in conduct, and its first mark is humility rather than cleverness. A wise person is known by how he acts, not by how quick he is. Then James warns that something can wear the name of wisdom and be its exact opposite.
Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
If what drives a person is bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, then whatever cunning it produces is not heavenly wisdom at all, however shrewd it looks. James traces it downward, from earthly to merely natural to demonic, and he names its harvest: wherever that jealous ambition rules, disorder follows and every kind of evil practice with it. It is the reverse of the ordered, fruitful life real wisdom builds.
Against it he sets the true thing, and he describes it start to finish by its character.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
Purity comes first, and then a run of qualities that all lean gentle, open, and merciful. This wisdom is not measured by how well it can prove itself right but by how it treats people, and it is known the way a tree is, by what grows on it. James closes with the harvest once more, the good one this time. Those who make peace, and who sow in peace, reap a crop of righteousness. Wisdom from above does not exist to win the argument. It grows peace, and it can be told apart from its counterfeit by what it leaves behind in a room.
Questions
1 How does James say a wise person shows it?
AnswerBy good conduct and deeds done in humility, not by knowledge or clever argument. Wisdom in James is a way of living rather than a store of information, and the first thing it looks like is a person low enough to be taught.
2 What marks the false wisdom, and where does James say it comes from?
AnswerBitter jealousy and selfish ambition mark it, and he says it is not from above but earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. However shrewd it looks, its true source is below, and its harvest is disorder and every kind of evil practice.
3 What does the wisdom from above look like?
AnswerPure first, then peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. James describes it entirely by character, so it is recognized not by how right it sounds but by how it actually treats people.
4 What harvest does each kind of wisdom produce?
AnswerThe false wisdom breeds disorder and evil wherever it rules. The wisdom from above grows righteousness, since those who make peace and sow in peace reap it, so each wisdom is finally known by the crop it leaves behind.
What This Means for Us
Look back over the decisions this house made in the last week, the small ones about time and money and who got the last word, and ask honestly which wisdom was steering, the one that grows peace or the one that grows disorder. Where the second was driving, say so, and ask God for the wisdom that comes down from him. James gives a checklist you can hold your own conduct against: pure, gentle, merciful, willing to yield. It is less a test of how smart you are than of what you leave behind you.
Prayer
God of wisdom, we call ourselves wise and often mean only that we got our way, and beneath it sits the jealousy and ambition James names. Forgive the disorder we have sown and blamed on others. Give us the wisdom that comes down from you, pure and gentle and full of mercy, and make us people who plant peace. Amen.