Dear woman, do you want knowledge? What do you do with the knowledge you have? It matters what you do with it. Therefore, I implore you to also desire wisdom. All things that may be desired are not to be compared to the gaining of wisdom. It’s better than gold, silver, and rubies (Prov.16:16, 8:11)! You can have knowledge without wisdom, but you can’t have wisdom without knowledge. What you make with knowledge is what makes you either wise or foolish.
Did you know you can buy knowledge? Books, education, seminars, and the like come with a cost. The more books on hydrangeas you buy and read, the more knowledge you’ll have of them. The more classes you take in medical school, the closer you’ll get to the knowledge of a practicing doctor. The more seminars you attend about writing, the more knowledge you’ll have of the writing craft. You might know what season to prune your hydrangea, if it likes the shade, or how to change the color of its pedals. You might know what cream to prescribe someone with a rash and how to create a story arc. But you can’t buy wisdom. You can’t buy wisdom, for it is invaluable. Wisdom comes from God. I do not think there is such a thing as godly wisdom and secular wisdom (in the true sense of the word), although the Bible talks about the wisdom of words, the wisdom of the world, and the wisdom of man (1 Cor. 1:17-20). It says God made foolish the wisdom of this world. Thus, this so-called worldly wisdom is foolish and not wisdom at all. When the scriptures use the word wisdom in this way, is it not ironic?
Wisdom isn’t a sure result of knowledge from studying books and having a multitude of life experiences. True wisdom is the wisdom of God, from God.
Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Job 28:28 says wisdom is the fear of the Lord. You must fear God, not in a cowardly way but in a reverent way, to begin to gain a whiff of wisdom. How then can you be wise apart from God? You can’t.
Wisdom isn’t a sure result of knowledge from studying books and having a multitude of life experiences. True wisdom is the wisdom of God, from God. Wisdom is for the humble—the upright (Prov. 11:2, 2:6-7). Fools despise wisdom while those who have been made righteous should cherish it (Prov. 1:7).
Ecclesiastes 2:6 says, “For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God.”
In the Old Testament, God put wisdom in the hearts of his people to carry out the work of the temple (Exodus 36:2). He put wisdom in kings to do judgment (1 Ki 3:28, 4:29). He put wisdom in the inward parts and understanding in the hearts of ordinary people (Job 38:36).
Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom in our seeking to know God through his Word (Eph. 1:17). When we know God, we know what he reveals about his will, what he loves, and what he hates (Col.1:9). By knowing this, we have the ability to make wise decisions and debates. We can make wise conclusions about our time and place in history. We can become wise because God gives wisdom to those who desire it (James 1:5).
As women, we think we want earthly wisdom, looking to those who seem to have it all and do it all. We must be different than the fool who despises true wisdom and seeks that of self-help gurus and false teachers. We must seek the treasure of the wisdom of God. We do this not to glory in our wisdom, but to glory in God who gives wisdom (Jer. 9:23).
Happy is the (wo)man who finds wisdom (Prov. 3:13).
