Real Wisdom Looks Like Humility And Peace

James provides us with a definition of wisdom that is impossible to fake, at least not for long, humility, peace, mercy, sincerity, and a life that matches what we say we believe.

We read from James 3:13-18 and talk about how earthly, unspiritual wisdom shows up as bitter envy and selfish ambition, then how it quickly spreads confusion everywhere it lands.

We also sit with James 5:7-12 and the call to be patient until the Lord’s coming. Patience is not doing nothing; it is standing firm, refusing to grumble, and letting endurance shape our character when life gets heavy. James points us to the farmer waiting for rain, the prophets who suffered, and Job’s perseverance.  All to remind us that God is full of compassion and mercy even when the timeline feels long.

Along the way, we talk about discernment, especially with teachers and leaders.  When the walk does not match the talk, people get hurt and faith looks hollow. We contrast God-led obedience with the kind of rushed spiritual shortcutting that chases power without surrender.  And we end with a practical command, let your yes be yes and your no be no.

If you want biblical wisdom, Christian patience, and practical guidance for spiritual growth that reaches into your words, your promises, and your daily choices, press play.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs peace, and leave a review with the line that challenged you most.

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James 3:13-18 - King James Version
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
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James 5:7-12 - King James Version
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Transcript

Welcome And Scripture Selection

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Christ Quarter. Thank you for taking a quarter of an hour out of this day to enjoy the presence of Christ and the words of Christ. Today let's read a section of Scripture, discuss what it means, and also how it applies to our lives. I hope that God will speak to you through my words and more importantly through his scriptures, and will bring you closer to Him. I am blessed and thankful to have this time to speak with you, and I thank you so much for being with me here today. Today's scripture selection is James chapter 3, verses 13 through 18, and James chapter 5, verses 7 through 12. The King James Version reads as follows Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband man waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he received the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, least ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yea be yea and your nay nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. Then I V says it this way, Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder in every evil practice. 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. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield his valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door. Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple yes or no, otherwise you will be condemned. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and to enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our daily lives more fully. We ask that you bless this discussion of your word that it will speak to someone who needs to hear from you. We ask that you use these words to bring someone closer to you, and that you will touch their hearts to love others through action in your name. That each of us will do something to show love to their neighbor in action as well as in word. That each of us will do our best to represent you to the world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The verses for today are instructional. James is instructing us to be wise and patient. Wisdom and patience walk together hand in hand. When we have the wisdom that comes from God, we have an awareness and confidence that everything will work out in the end. Even while things seem to be falling apart, we know that things are really falling together, we just can't see all the pieces. Wisdom and patience together also guide us away from false prophets. We don't even have to know that they are false prophets. Their character will make them distasteful to us, and we will naturally move away from them. False prophets can be in a hurry to learn how to perform miracles, quote unquote, and will try to get you to follow their methods. The fact that they are in a hurry and are trying to learn these things by themselves rather than being led by God and trusting in God shows their character. The sorcerers of Egypt were able to turn their staffs into snakes just as Aaron did. But while the Egyptian sorcerers learned to perform these acts seemingly on their own with spells and enchantments, Aaron had been led by God and was simply throwing down his staff, trusting in God to do the rest. God's greater power was shown in that the snake from Aaron's staff ate all the other snakes. Even when the sorcerers tried to perform miracles, God received the glory. And Moses and Aaron's faith was strengthened. So let's get right to it. James starts out today's scripture by immediately pointing out that a teacher's walk should match his talk. To teach one thing to your students, but then to do another in your life is being a hypocrite. This applies to those who have chosen to be teachers, but it also applies to everyone else. We all have people who listen to us, our children, our friends, even our parents and grandparents. When what we say to them about how to live and how we live does not match up with our actual life, then we're being hypocritical. This is a bad trait for anyone, but it is especially bad for Christians because our hypocritical behavior can pull people away from Christ. James goes on to speak directly to some issues among the specific teachers, and I believe to some of our specific teachers today. Some of the teachers feel that they have gifts that others do not, and that their gifts are better. Maybe they have begun to boast about who's the better speaker, or who has brought the most students to class, or who has been teaching the longest. These types of proudful boasts and envying of one another is not from God. These talents and strengths that these teachers have is earthly. Even if their talents and gifts are from God, they're using them in an earthly manner. Verse 15 says, This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. James goes on to say that this type of envy and strife brings confusion in every evil work. The opposite of this is heavenly wisdom. Heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceful, gentle, not hypocritical, merciful, willing to peacefully discuss, not showing partiality and having good fruits. Faith without works is dead, I believe this goes along with wisdom as well. Verse 18 says, And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. This is the opposite of confusion, strife, and envy. Peace results when we have and live in the patience and wisdom of God. Those who do this not only bring peace to those around them, but they also live in a peaceful environment. Those who bring peace have that peace increased and reflected back to them. James wraps up these scriptures by telling us not to swear. We have nothing to swear by, and if we swear by God and fail in what we have sworn to do, then we are in effect trying to involve God in our lie and in our failures. Of course, don't do this, but swearing can also trap us. We swear to do something without thinking it through, and then find out that to follow through will involve more than we're willing to pay or lose. Simply let your word be your bond and follow through on what you say you're going to do. You'll have no need to swear just to be taken seriously. Finally, as you go through life, seek wisdom and peace, knowing that life will challenge you. Seek wisdom and guidance from above, be patient and persevere. That concludes our scripture discussion for today. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about, learning about, and enjoying Christ. It is my hope that God has used my words to touch you today and has brought you closer to Him. Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debt towards, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.