Five Bible Verses on Wisdom

1. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

I had to list this one first because it's just such an amazing gift from God. I mean wow, if we lack wisdom what do we do? All the other world religions would tell us take these five steps, do these ten things, sit under a tree and wait. What does the Bible tell us? Ask God! Just ask him! And scripture says that God is generous and he'll give it to you. That is a blessing right there.

2. Ephesians 5:15-17 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians tells us that we should be careful. Being careful is a platitude that all of us are used to hearing, but are we truly careful in the proper manner? Checking for terrorists around every corner isn't going to get us very far. Neither is checking into the past or future about what might have or might happen in the future. Keep your focus on the here and now. Look with wisdom at the world around you. Have you ever marveled at how a teenager seems to blow through life missing everything around them? As have I, then five years passed and I looked back and marveled at how little I saw and how foolish I was then. There is always room for improvement. We must be careful, and attentive to details. Watch for signs of God, and watch for signs of evil. We are told "the days are evil" and this is absolutely true. If you find yourself loving life almost all the time, you're probably missing something. Look for the will of the Lord and follow it.

3. James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Remember that God is pure and so is his wisdom. Have you been struggling through the half baked philosophies of other cultures? Look to the wisdom of God. It never fails when all other philosophies create endless failure. We are given hints to God's philosophy here in James. It is of peace! Gentleness is one of it's virtues as well. The wisdom of God is open to reason, open minded but not overly tolerant of sin either. Mercy is another trait given to the wisdom of God. It is said to be full of good fruits, meaning good works spring forth from it. Impartiality means that God's wisdom is full of justice. Sincerity means that it is done with love! Apply these traits to your own life.

4. Proverbs 3:13-18 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. ...

We are told in Proverbs that achieving wisdom means we are blessed. Materials and money don't have a thing on wisdom! It's better than anything we could dream of having. This passage is just incredibly powerful in it's description of the fruits of true wisdom. The fruits mentioned are of a long life, riches, and honor. Those are things I definitely want! We are told that the ways within wisdom are pleasant. Once again peace is mentioned. When we walk the paths of wisdom, we are at peace and we offer peace to others freely.

5. Proverbs 10:23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.

This passage I can relate to as my best friend and I would often joke about the mistakes we'd made in the past. We'd laugh about how erroneous we had been. That is not the way of God or wisdom. A man who is wise takes pleasure in knowing the right things to do. That pleasure is it's own gift, and leads to happiness. Then there is no need to laugh about the mistakes of the past, because they lessen and we see them as learning experiences more than anything else.