Walking in wisdom – Part II

Last week, we learned why wisdom is important. This week, we will delve into how to acquire wisdom and look at the first two letters in the acronym LEARN. Wisdom is a choice, and we need to learn how to choose it. The Bible says, “Learn to be wise … and develop good judgment…” (Proverbs 4:5, TLB). It’s our choice. We are not, by nature, wise people. By nature, we do the easy thing, which is usually the stupid thing. Wisdom is learnt, and the Bible gives us guidelines that will help us become wiser.

HOW DO I LEARN TO BE WISE?

We will look at five things that can teach us to be wise, using the acronym LEARN to help us to remember them. Here they are:

1. L – LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD EVERY DAY

Faith comes by hearing, and not just listening to YouTube or Netflix. We’ve got to listen to God’s Word every day because that’s where the wisdom comes from. Proverbs 1:7 (MSG) says, “Start with God — the first step in learning is bowing down to God… .” We are more familiar with this verse as: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Why do we start here? Because wisdom comes from God.

Proverbs 2:6 (GNT) says: “It is the Lord who gives wisdom; from him come knowledge and understanding.”

Do you believe everything you find on the Internet or watch on TV?

Then why do we spend more time reading and listening to what we don’t believe rather than to the truth, which is the Word of God? There are a lot of things in life we read, hear, and watch that don’t build our wisdom. The Bible says in Proverbs 15:14 (NLT), “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.” We ought to print that verse out and tape it to a wall! We can either feed on truth or feed on trash. If we want to be wise, we’ve got to make the decision to feed on truth every day.

Not everything is good for our minds, and some things poison it. Wise people protect their minds. The wise person feeds on truth, which makes them wiser — wiser in relationships, wiser in time management, wiser in financial matters, wiser in business, wiser in parenting, wiser in marriage, and wiser in all other areas of life.

Number one, if we want to learn, we’ve got to spend time every day connecting with God and listening to His truth. That’s the first wise habit to develop.

2. E – ENROL WITH FRIENDS WHO CHALLENGE ME

If we’re going to be wise, we’ve got to get some wise, godly people in our lives. We always grow in community. We cannot grow to spiritual maturity by ourselves. Why? Because wisdom is learnt in relationships. The quality of our life will largely be determined by the people we choose to keep close to us. If we build wise friendships in our lives, we’re going to get wiser. But if we don’t engage with people who will help us grow in wisdom, we’re going to have fruitless lives. We therefore need a good group of friends in life. 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us, “Bad company corrupts good character… .” We need to enrol with friends who challenge us and build us up.

The Bible says this in Proverbs 13:20 (NCV): “Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer.”

Let us practise these two, and look out for the others next Sunday!