Food For the Soul

James 3: 17 "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

I read these words earlier this week as I prepared for a meeting. I had been praying and asking God to give me wisdom. I did not want personality to be the driving force of the conversation. (It was a confrontational discussion.) I did not want my ego or any individual selfish need to be the reason I was confronting and asking some hard questions. I truly only wanted God to shine through the conversation. I prayed for wisdom, Godly wisdom.

During my prayer time, which involved perusing and praying through a number of passages, I landed on this verse. It is interesting that the beginning of this chapter in James is all about the power of the tongue. So as I was asking God to reign in my tongue for His glory, I ended up stuck on this verse.

Pure wisdom. Peace loving. Considerate. Submissive. Full of mercy. (I am not known for having an abundance of mercy.) Impartial. Sincere.

As I was preparing my heart I really wanted my heart to be heard. My heart that I felt was in tune with God's. As I worked through some of the issues that I knew would be discussed, I prayed for words tempered with peace and kindness. I prayed for a purity of heart, mind and purpose.

I know God heard my prayers. I know He kept my mouth closed when I would have said something unmerciful. You see I realized too that while this was my prayer, I didn't know how the person on the other side of the table would respond. I didn't know how they were preparing themselves. I could only do what God, through the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do. I know that I was able in kindness to suggest other tactics for this person to try as they responded. I was sincere in my desire to work things out, personality aside.

I have prayed many many times for wisdom. The times when I am in tune with God I look back and see that wisdom as being pure. But how many times have I "jumped the gun" and taken sides in my judgement or been unmerciful and unkind? By using my own wisdom I have hurt others and myself in the process.His wisdom is pure.

I love the filters that God has given us in His Word as we seek Him. As we ask for wisdom in our lives, if the end result lines up with the filter of purity, peaceful, considerate, submissive, merciful, impartial and sincerity we can move forward in confidence that our wisdom is of God.