Marriner’s Moment: Celebrating Wisdom and Knowledge – Pt. 2

James 3:17, tells us “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

Wisdom has more to do with discernment of matters, while knowledge is information that is learned. This also validates one of the points that I like to make – information PLUS application equals transformation.

In other words, knowledge is good, but if it is not applied or used, it’s just a reservoir of information. Similarly, we can achieve academic success and earn all kinds of degrees, but if we fail to apply it to our daily lives, share it with others, and translate it in meaningful ways, they are useless. Simply put, knowledge memorizes the Ten Commandments; wisdom obeys them. Knowledge learns of God; wisdom loves Him.

Many of us probably know individuals that we consider wise who may have never attended school or college. However, their life experiences have taught them invaluable lessons and skills. We can sit and listen to them for hours, or glean gems of helpful advice and seek counsel from these sages. There are also some individuals that appear to be ‘gifted’ with wisdom. How many times have we encountered youth that we proclaim are ‘wise beyond their years?’

It’s interesting that, these days, when we speak with our youth, we sometimes struggle to communicate effectively with them because they refuse to take what we say at ‘face value.’ Often this is because they are so much wiser than we were, when we were the same age. Sometimes we become frustrated with our youth because telling them something isn’t good enough. We find ourselves having to explain – in detail – the ‘who, what, when where, why and how’ to them. They don’t accept traditions and rituals from us ‘just because we said so.’ They ask questions, press for legitimate answers, and mull things over so that it makes sense to them, before they can accept it as truth. That’s wisdom. That’s curiosity, and that’s good!
Let’s encourage our youth and celebrate wisdom and knowledge!

”Peace and power.

© Dr. Melvin O. Marriner,
Grove Church
August 2017