A Word for the Wise

I wonder what it would be like to be truly wise.
Not smart.
Not clever.
Not just “well-read” or “really experienced at life.”
But wise.
The kind of wisdom that calms the storm in another person life without ever saying much.
The kind that listens more than it lectures.
The kind that knows when not to talk.
I wonder what that kind of wisdom would be like in my life?

I know people who give me the impression that they think they’re wise. But I’ve always believed that the moment you ‘think’ your wise? You probably aren’t.

That’s what makes wisdom so slippery.
It doesn’t show up with flashing lights.
It doesn’t give you a certificate.
I think it just quietly begins to change how you move through the world.

The Book of Proverbs outlines real wisdom in a lot of verses. Over and over, it says things like:

“Do not be wise in your own eyes…”
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”
“With the humble is wisdom.”

That’s a curious thing, isn’t it?
Wisdom grows in people who know they haven’t arrived.
The minute you puff up and think you’ve got a handle on wisdom?

Well, you’re already drifting away from it.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, says wisdom from above is “pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and sincere.”
That’s not a list of ingredients, I don’t think.
It’s a mirror, a picture of what the bible calls ‘understanding.”

God doesn’t measure or determine our wisdom quotient by our IQ or our titles.
He listens for things like the tone of my voice, watches the pace of my step, notices my ability to absorb life without complaining or exploding.
And he for sure-as-the-world checks to see if I’m still teachable, as I navigate every day;
Am I still listening.
Am I still open to that question, “Could I be wrong?”

No, I don’t think wisdom is a loud voice; It’s more like a steady walk.
Wisdom isn’t a destination; it’s a maturity I’m continually moving toward.