Well...it's July! I can't believe how fast this summer is going. Before we know it we'll all be buying school supplies like 6th graders. Well, maybe not. But I will be. Anyways, I've been SUPER busy the past week or so, thus explaining my lack of posts.
So lately, I've been reading Ezekiel. Which is crazy...if you haven't read it, you should! I'm learning so much from it. Ezekiel 11:19-20 says, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people and I will be their God." This is a really incredible promise. The people of Israel turned away from God and in the midst of their rebellion, and in the midst of his anger, he promises this. He never gives up on Israel, no matter how many times they turn their backs on Him.
But what has really caught my attention this week has been James 3:17. It says, "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." If we want to be wise, really wise, not wise from worldly standards, then we need to work on these things. Ok correction, I need to work on these things.
Purity of mind and spirit and attitude. Seeking peace in every situation, even when it would be easy to start and argument. Considerate of the people around us. Considerate enough to value others above ourselves. Submissive. Which doesn't have to be negative! The world has twisted the meaning of submission to mean something VERY different from how God intends submission to be. Really, submission is a beautiful way to serve and respect the people around us that are in authority. Full of mercy. Mercy for those that are lost. Mercy for those that hurt me. Mercy for those that make mistakes, just like me. Full of good fruit. There should be good fruit coming from wisdom! If we are wise, we should be able to have an affect on those around us. Our actions and attitudes should change outwardly. Impartial. We should treat all of our brothers and sisters the same. I think that we can be better friends with some people than others, but we shouldn't treat anyone with less love and acceptance just because we don't know them as well. Sincere. Oh sincerity. Not being fake with people; being okay with being myself.
Ultimately, I want to be wise. I want Godly wisdom that will make me a strong and Godly woman. I want to be all of the things that James says that wisdom from heaven looks like. And if I want that, these are the things that I must work on. Nowhere does it say that I have to know a whole bunch of random facts or even a lot of facts about one thing. James doesn't say that I have to be an intellectual to be wise. And although I do value learning, I realize that it takes a whole lot more to really be wise.
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