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When you leave your own culture, you learn things about it. One of the things that I learned about Canadian culture when I moved to Japan is that we don’t seem to place a high value on wisdom. In Canada, we work hard at helping our children learn skills with lots of after-school clubs and activities, but in Japan, proverbs still have a significant place in a child’s development. In kindergarten, our children started learning Japanese proverbs along with the other kids. There are lots of well-made comic books that introduce them to age-old truisms that are recognized across society. In elementary school, children are formally taught proverbs and even tested on them. As a result, children grow with a sense that older generations possess wisdom about how life can be navigated effectively.
By contrast, many of the children’s stories that we prize in Canada celebrate the children who break with tradition, ignore their parent’s advice, follow their hearts, and go their own ways. We emphasize self-discovery and self-expression, and wisdom is lost in the process. You can see the consequences of this focus in people’s faith. Today, we’re better at expressing ourselves in small groups, worship, and social media, but a lot weaker in godly wisdom. We study the Bible less, read fewer Christian books, memorize fewer verses, and seldom take the time to learn from those who are older. We can correct this. The following is a basic strategy for pursuing wisdom.
1. Seek wisdom in the Scriptures
People often like to quote God’s promise to give wisdom in James 1:5. It says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” This is a great promise and it’s appropriate to pray to ask God for wisdom, but this wasn’t intended as a shortcut to learning the wisdom that God has already given us. An entire book of the Bible is dedicated to age-old advice on how to live wisely. It claims to give “prudence to the simple” and “knowledge and discretion to the youth” (Proverbs 1:4). We need wisdom to live! We can read the Bible for a number of different reasons. We read it for comfort and inspiration. We read it for hope and encouragement. We read it to grow in our understanding and love for God. All of these are valid reasons to turn to the Scriptures. But we must seek wisdom in the Bible. We need to regularly be asking ourselves, how does the Bible teach me to live? As it says in Proverbs 4:7, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”
2. Seek wisdom in correction
As important as the Bible is, the Bible doesn’t tell us to get all of our wisdom from the Bible. We need to also listen to the people God places in our lives to instruct us. Proverbs 19:20 says, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” Sometimes, our greatest teachers are the people who correct us. Proverbs 15:12 warns, “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.” Do you avoid people who might tell you what you don’t want to hear? There’s wisdom in correction, so we need the humility to listen and not assume that we already know. As Proverbs 12:15 teaches, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
3. Seek wisdom in the fear of the Lord
The problem with great advice is that we can ignore it. Wise words do little good to people who think they know better. That’s why Proverbs 9:10 teaches that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” What that means is that having a healthy reverence for God is the critical factor in whether a person will grow in wisdom or remain in immaturity. Someone who fears the Lord values God and His ways and see His commands as good and precious. As it says in Psalm 112:1, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” Fearing the Lord leads to satisfaction, protection (Proverbs 19:23), and holiness (Exodus 20:20).
We don’t have all the answers, but God does and He’s eager to give them. Let’s seek Him for the wisdom that He provides.
In awe of Him,
Paul
