Would you agree that there are very smart and intelligent people who are not particularly wise and that the reverse is also true? You might even be able to think of examples from both categories. Wisdom can be defined, according to Wikipedia, as “having a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events, or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgments and actions in keeping with this understanding.” While this may be a very apt explanation of this world’s view of wisdom, there is a major deficit in what it truly means to be really wise.
The truth is that real and complete wisdom comes through seeking and knowing God, the only true omniscient one. Isn’t it amazing that we can know Him personally because He has revealed Himself through His creation, through His Son and through His written revelation – the Holy Bible? When David and others wrote their songs of praise for the Israelites, they included poems that have been categorized as “wisdom Psalms” – ones that particularly focus on the importance of submission to the majesty and authority of Yahweh. When life is seen from the vantage point of heaven and eternity or through the lens of the eternal God who is good and loving and merciful, wisdom will always take us to realizing that He is God and we are not and that a relationship with Him will always satisfy the longings of our hearts in a way that nothing or no one else can ever do.
Would you rather be considered intelligent or wise or both? While you have far less control over the one than the other, what do you do to maximize both of these traits in your own life?
