Wisdom is the main thing according to God’s Word. But many confuse wisdom with knowledge. One seminary student writes the following. “When I was a seminary student I recall hearing of a man with a Ph.D. who ran an elevator in a downtown Louisville, Kentucky, office building. Just before my oral examination for the same degree the faculty examining committee failed to pass a philosophy student. I was concerned, thinking the faculty committee was getting tougher. I asked one of the professors why they failed to pass the man. He said the student was able to answer all the questions about the philosophy of others, but he had no philosophy of his own. Both the elevator operator and the student had knowledge; neither had wisdom.” Dr. George Cross, a former president of the University of Oklahoma, said, “The reason universities are called storehouses of knowledge is that the freshman bring so much of it to the campus and the seniors take so little of it away.” Knowledge is a mental accumulation of facts. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge properly in the ordering of one’s life.¹

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The Ways of Wisdom

Proverbs 1:5 (NKJV) — 5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

• The Bible lays out for us in detail what are the characteristics of those who are wise.
• Proverbs chapter one, for example, tells that a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.

Wisdom Way #1: People Who Hold the Ways of Wisdom Hear and Increase Learning

• The Hebrew word ‘hear’ means an intelligent hearing often with the implication of attention, and obedience.²
• This obedience is not blind obedience but an intelligent understanding of the commandments of God.
• The Lord wants you to know the ‘why’of His Word.
• Wisdom is hidden for you, not from you.

Deuteronomy 30:11 (NKJV) — 11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.

Psalm 51:6 (NKJV) — 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

• When the Word of God says, ‘You shall not lie,’ an intelligent man understands the why of that commandment.
• When the Word says intelligent, it doesn’t mean after the natural man.
• This intelligence is not mental but spiritual insight.
• In your heart, your insides, God will make wisdom known to you.
• The next part of Proverbs one five is that a wise man will increase in learning.

What Does Increase in Learning Mean?

Proverbs 9:9 (NKJV) — 9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

• Teachers and instructors in the Word must follow this path of increased learning.
• The word increase is a verb meaning it’s an active something that you do.
• The word means to make an addition to; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of.
• Learning means teaching, instruction or insight.
• So, bounce this question of your heart.
• What do I know about God today that I didn’t know yesterday?
• Where is the increase in my life in the knowledge of God?

Wisdom Way #2: People Who Hold the Ways of Wisdom Attain Wise Counsel

• The Hebrew word ‘obtain’ means to acquire or get something; often through one’s efforts or as compensation.
• The word ‘counsel’ means something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action.
• The word picture is that of the skill of the helmsman steering a boat.³
• So, a wise believer in Jesus is a person who can guide and steer their own lives in ways that please the Father.

23 More Wisdom Ways

1. The wise of heart will receive commandments, Pr. 10:8.
2. The wise lay up knowledge, Pr 10:14, 18:15.
3. He captures souls, Pr 11:30.
4. A wise man listens to advise, Pr 12:15.
5. The tongue of the wise brings healing, Pr 12:18.
6. He who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, Pr 14:16.
7. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, Pr 15:2.
8. The lips of the wise spread knowledge, Pr 15:7.
9. A wise son makes a glad father, Pr 15:20.
10. A wise man appeases wrath, Pr 16:14.
11. The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious (instructive – he instructs) and adds persuasiveness to his lips, Pr 16:23.
12. He keeps silent and closes his lips, Pr 17:28.
13. He thins out the wicked, Pr 20:26.
14. A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust, Pr 21:22.
15. He is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, Pr 24:5.
16. A wise man the wise turn away wrath, Pr 29:8.
17. A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back, Pr 29:11.
18. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness, Ec 2:14.
19. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, Ec 7:4.
20. Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city, Ec 7:19.
21. A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed, Ec 8:1.
22. A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left, Ec 10:2.
23. The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, Ec 10:12.

What To Do If You Lack Wisdom – [James 1:5-8]