How Do I Be Wise If Everyone Around Me Isn't?
The key is to really want it.
Sometimes, it’s easy to look at the craziness in our world and wonder why people don’t make better decisions. But in Proverbs 4, Solomon indicates that wisdom is so elusive because it isn’t pursued.
This is why Solomon says twice in verse five and twice in verse 7 to get, or more literally, to “purchase” wisdom. Real wisdom costs us something. It might cost us business deals, relationships, or resources to acquire.
Unlike salvation, wisdom isn’t a gift we receive when we place our hope in Christ. For this reason, there are many unwise Christians who lack discernment. They make foolish business deals, speak foolish language, and, in general, act like fools.
While wisdom doesn’t always come with age, there is something to be said for experience. Unfortunately, in Western societies, we have devalued the role of older people. Rather than seeing them as pillars of wisdom, we revert to our Genesis 11 Babylonian ways and seek to detach from our ancestors and make a name for ourselves.
You Have to Want It
As Robert Alter notes, we see the role mentoring can play in a young person acquiring wisdom. “In the tradition-oriented framework of Proverbs,” Alter writes, “wisdom is a quality that age imparts to youth.”[1]
As Ray Ortlund helpfully notes, “In the Old Testament, the priests taught the law of God, and the prophets declared the word of God (Jer. 18:18). But the fathers and mothers gave their children the wisdom of God (Prov. 1:8; 6:20).”[2]
So the question then becomes, how do we become wise if we weren’t raised in a wise environment? Godly mentors are a great place to start. Taking a series of personality tests that help us better understand our strengths and weaknesses can also be helpful. And consuming great material from wise authors and communicators can be transformative. But the first step towards becoming a wise person is to really want wisdom.
Proverbs 4:8 says of wisdom, “Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.” The word translated “cherish” is the Hebrew word “salsel” and has the imagery of cuddling or caressing affectionately. This is how much we should treasure wisdom.
Situational Awareness
A large part of becoming conformed to the image of Christ is having the situational awareness to know how to respond as Christ would if he were faced with our situation.
A wise person can look at a gray situation and make a Christlike decision, even if they don’t have book, chapter, and verse to support their action.
New followers of Christ often fall into a rut of obsessively asking God to show them what to do in every challenging situation. Part of this is healthy as they learn what it means to depend on God. But just as the mark of a good employee is learning to do the will of their boss, even when she is not around, the mark of a maturing believer is knowing how to respond as Christ would in a situation because they have spent so much time with him.
[1] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (The Writings), vol. 3 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019), 363.
[2]Bryan Chapell, eds. Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes. Accordance electronic ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), paragraph 2646.
