Wisdom is Submissive

For the 4th post in this series on wisdom as expounded in James 3:13-17, we look at the aspect of submission. 

A person who is wise is submissive.

If we haven’t figured it out yet, we will soon comprehend, perhaps grudgingly, that wisdom engages with the whole world, as opposed to the whole world engaging with just one person—namely, ME. 

“Submissive” is probably the last word one would want to mention as a character trait to be integrated into one’s life. Some people turn away at this point, because to them the word has been mucked up by earthly connotations. 

To them, submissive negatively means:

*Door mat.

*Wimp

*Subservient to men (and quickly growing to encompass subservience to women).

*A “goody-two-shoes” who follows all the rules.

*Teacher’s pet

*Kissing up to the boss. 

*No sense of adventure and taking risks.

In fact, dictionary.com would enforce this with one of it’s definitions of the word “submit:”

“to give over or yield to the power or authority of another.”

With all due respect to the dictionary, it doesn’t always get it right, because it was written by man, not God. However, the dictionary does get submission partly right in it’s second definition:

“to subject to some kind of treatment or influence.”

So in Biblical submission, what is to be subjected?

Us.

What are we to subject ourselves to? 

Most people would say the law, the police, the professors, the parents, the husband, the doctor, etc.

But in Biblical submission we submit to God:

“Submit yourselves, then, to God” (James 4:7a).

Think about the times people cut corners and feel the rules just don’t apply to them or to their attainment of the “bottom line.” 

Think of the time we cut corners out of pride that the rules don’t apply to us:

*Reporting an accurate account of our taxes.

*How we operate when on the company’s expense account.

*How we act when nobody’s looking.

*How we treat our marital vows.

*How we handle terms of etiquette: such as RSVP’ing, showing up when we say we will, being on time, answering phone calls, talking things out when there is a disagreement….

All of the above, along with the multitude of ways we shirk and bend the rules, are not “splitting hairs” or “putting too fine a point on things,” being a “prude” or being “unrealistic.” 

And we know this because our conscience, created by God as His stamp on us, pricks us every time we tell a “little white lie” or “look the other way and hope others do too.” 

Our conscience is God’s way of calling us to Himself; to be brought under His merciful and wise ownership.

So let’s take a look at why submission to God and under God is better than submission to our self or to any worldly entity:

Here is the James verse in which we find the command to “submit yourselves, then, to God” in context:

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the Spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

‘God opposes the proud

But shows favor to the humble.’

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:1-8

We need to submit to God because we are sinners. 

And friendship with the world here is considered a detrimental thing because the world, in God’s context, is not a warm fuzzy: in fact, it is fallen (Even the hippie-era Coca Cola song recognizes this in its platitudinal desire to teach this unharmonious world “to sing, in perfect harmony.” I say, “good luck with that!”)

Think about it. If we cheat, it’s “okay”. 

But when someone else cheats, perhaps in a different way, or perhaps causing harm to me, then I’m appalled—but never at my own cheating. 

And if I do become disgusted with myself for a personal discretion, I make up some lame excuse such as “I’m only human” or, “I'll do better next time,” never taking accountability for our lapse.

God is the standard for all of our submission; that’s the incredible beauty and blessing of Biblical submission!

In His economy, when we all submit to Him, righteousness—His righteousness—reigns. 

It doesn’t mean we get our way when we Biblically submit. In fact, quite often we won’t get “our way” and that is a good thing, if it truly is Biblical submission to God—not to a pastor, a denomination or some person who sincerely believes he or she has a “word from God” but is sincerely wrong. 

That is why we are called by Scripture to “test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

And we test it by Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, wrought in us through the reading of His word and living it out, in constant prayer and silent times of hearing God. This is what makes righteous submission an enjoyable interaction and pursuit.

So then, to submit to my husband, or any man, Biblically, is not a problem. Nor is it a character flaw on my part, or a denigration of my being a woman. 

It simply means I submit to a man no differently than I would submit to a female boss, friend, sister, or mother (even including a child, who is sometimes in the right when we are in the wrong).

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). 
(Please note that this verse is connected to the words that come before it, which I will not provide here. I encourage you to read Ephesians 5:1-21 for this particular verse's full context).

Biblically, under submission to God and His will, is how I am to be in relationship with all people.

If there is one thing I could emblazon on a billboard for all the world to see it is this:

"Biblical submission will not be understood by man until the Spirit enters in and deciphers it for man. Only then will it make sense.”

Once so enlightened, we will turn red in our embarrassment over how worked up we had let ourselves get about submission.

I invite anyone to read James 4:1-8 and find it false—that it doesn’t depict our current situation.

I invite anyone to argue that going on in this world in the way the world is going on—with less and less submission to God, and increasingly less and less submission to even basic societal rules and politeness—in favor of an expanding heart-hardened submission to “individual rights,”—is better than submission to the Lord of lords and King of kings, who came for the sick (in mind, spirit, soul and body), not for the healthy (those who think they are in no need of a Savior—Luke 5:31; Mark 2:17; Matthew 9:12). 

Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10b).

He came to rescue us from those who steal us from life and from having it to the full (John 10:10). 

Jesus wept when people refused Him in order to go it alone:

“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41-42).

Submission in the Spirit of Christ to God brings peace: in our selves, in our marriages, in our families, in our communities, in our cities, in our states, in our nations, and in our world. 

This--submission--is the wisdom of God, not man. 

Copyright Barb Harwood

Wisdom is Considerate

The next quality of wisdom as listed in James 3:17 is considerate.

Considerate means to consider others, to, as dictionary.com defines it, “think carefully about, contemplate, reflect on; to regard,” especially “in order to make a decision.”

We make decisions every second: not just as to what to do, but what to think, how to respond, when to speak, the words we choose—along with the tone of voice we decide to use—and in general, where we will allow our mind to dwell. 

A mind and heart bent on seeing only our pain, our inconvenience, our hardship, our striving, our need for acknowledgement, our political point of view, our having worked hard to earn a reward, and our feelings is an inconsiderate mind and heart. 

“The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;” (Jeremiah 17:9a).

“…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

And we’ve all been there, all too often, with solely ourselves as our treasure.

That’s because it’s difficult to “walk in another person’s shoes” when we have no motivation to do so. 

Hence, everyone else and what they are going through, or what they can contribute to the party, or what they have overcome, is completely overlooked—invisible to the naked eye of “ME.”

We are often unaware of our total and complete oversight of others. The people around us may try to offer us comfort, help with insight on a project, or be attempting to commiserate by exchanging information about the time they, too, struggled, and we just barge on over them, not hearing or seeing them at all. 

And when can’t see or hear anyone else, we just can’t care either. 

Thankfully, all is not lost!

God is a merciful conduit of a good, hard look in the mirror!

He will absolutely, in His timing, reveal to us the fact that we bludgeon other people right out of existence with our own incessant chatter about ourselves, from the perspective of ourselves.

He is the one who instills an awareness of community—of other people hurting—of other people having beautiful talents and gifts—of other people wanting to love us and needing us to love them. 

And yes, God even brings an awareness of other people wanting to hurt us, but He brings it with the revelation as to why that is, allowing us to meet even these folks with compassion.

With God, it becomes—it must become—less and less about us. 

As we retreat into the love and confidence of Christ, standing firm in His affirmation and guidance, we emerge from the windowless room of “ME” into the glorious panorama of seeing others from Christ’s viewpoint. 

Jesus Christ will allow us to unconditionally love, and be with, others. He will redeem our self-obsession into a generous spirit of not only being able to, but actually craving to, kindly consider others.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." Romans 12:1-3

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:10-15

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ Galatians 5:13-14

“Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:2-3

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4

Copyright Barb Harwood

Wisdom is Peace-loving

Continuing on in the study of wisdom as spelled out in James 3:13-17, I find that it helps to look at each of the qualities individually. Following after pure, then, is the quality of peace-loving.  

Wisdom is peace-loving: We aim for good will, not ill will:

“Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end” (Proverbs 29:11).

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord. ‘BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.’ Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14-21).

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).

“…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).

The next post will look at how wisdom is considerate.

"I'll Have One of Each!"

I am reading through the book of James, and this morning read this verse:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his 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 down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and elfish ambition, there you find disorder and 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” (James 3:13-17).

When I finished reading the above delineation of what constitutes wisdom, I said to myself, 

“I’ll have one of each.” 

The entrees in this list are free for the taking; we simply must choose them in the self-control the Spirit provides, desiring His goodness in lieu of, as Paul states, “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1).

In looking at each ingredient of wisdom, we note right away that the writer of James distinguishes this true wisdom from false wisdom. 

True wisdom “comes from heaven.” 

So when we think we are being wise, we can test ourselves by asking, 

“Is the wisdom out of which I am operating my wisdom, or from God in heaven?” 

In answering that question, we move on in the verse:

“The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure.” 

First and foremost, wisdom from heaven is pure. What does pure mean? 

I love dictonary.com's definition:

“free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold, pure water.”

Wisdom that is Godly is pure in that it contains God and only God. 

The Bible is our directive, and a saving faith in Christ enlivens the Holy Spirit in us, opening our hearts, minds, spirits, souls and bodies to discerning the difference between what is of man and what is of God.

The James passage uses the word “then” to introduce the next seven traits of heavenly wisdom. Interesting, isn’t it, that these follow purity. Purity must come first.

Why is this?

Because we pollute God’s wisdom right out of the shoot with our self-righteousness, pride, personal ambitious agendas, and worldly education and expertise, along with our desire for human affirmation, attention and drama (which often involves a hidden layer of getting back at others, or proving them wrong). 

Until we ditch the adulteration, purity will be delayed. 

So in order to get the ball rolling, we must agree with God that His wisdom is the only pure, true wisdom, and then we must go to His Word to grow and live in that wisdom. 

Over the next few days, I will explore each of the next seven qualities of “the wisdom that comes from heaven.”

Copyright Barb Harwood

Roots Founded in Christ

When something happens in life to interrupt our normal—a job loss, retirement, grown children moving out of the house, divorce, or an illness—it is as though we are yanked out of a stability and existence that we never imagined would ever end (or at minimum, never imagined it would have turned out like this!).

Sometimes the abrupt turns of direction are well-received. Sometimes they are better than we imagined. 

Until. 

Until something upsets that applecart and we are staring at a mess that we indeed did not sign up for. 

Retirement was great until such and such happened. 

The kids moving out was perhaps a relief, or a sense of a job well done, until we started to miss them and realize they are never coming home to live again. 

That divorce couldn’t happen fast enough and the newfound freedom was invigorating, until the reality of the loss of what had been built all those years together as a couple sinks in.

We may not realize how deep our roots have implanted themselves in the spot where we’ve worked and lived until those roots are yanked. It is then, at that moment of surprising ourselves, of feeling groundless, that we instantly begin to look for another planter to pot ourselves into. 

That pot could be a newfound desire for community; it might look like going back to school; it might mean returning to one’s childhood stomping grounds. 

Maybe we find ourselves able to distract ourselves with travel or leisure activities. But over time, we realize that even those moorings have taken on too much water and become soggy and lethargic. 

What we want is meaning again. Purpose. 

I mean, look. We went to work every day for 15, 20, 30 or more years. Now we don’t know what to do with ourselves (whether emotionally or physically).

We raised our kids, enjoyed it—even the tantrums and sleepless nights, in hindsight. We knew each day what the drill was and we lived and breathed as a family. And the days went by and we didn’t really pay too close attention until one day, or one summer, or one year: they were gone. Overnight, seemingly, our role as parent—at least as hands on, up close and personal parent—is over. 

Now we don’t know what to do with ourselves.

We may have some consistencies to tide us over, such as ongoing ministries, hobbies and social engagements. Our we may not. 

But these consistencies might lose their luster for a time as we attempt to put the rug back under our feet. 

It’s when we realize that nothing we can do will put the rug back under our feet that we understand our roots, our grounding, our foundation has probably not been the right and true one.

It’s then we slow down and ask ourselves, 

“Did I even have roots to begin with? If those were roots, why were they so easily disrupted, and hence, my world turned on end?”

If our sense of being and purpose has disappeared with the job, the good health, the political leader, the spouse, the kids, the dog, the house or the city, then we have sown our seeds in the wrong place, and what we are feeling is perhaps never having sprouted. 

We are still a seed waiting to germinate in true soil.

Because the way Scripture tells it, some seed is scattered on dry ground, and some on rocky soil, and some where birds eat it before it can ever generate a bud (Matthew 13:3-9). 

And it is the cares of the world, the busyness, the getting distracted with life—even by a good life and good kids and a good wife and a good career—that can keep us from forming permanent, deep tendrils that are impervious to all attempts to disrupt them. (Matthew 13:3-9).

So even while we are sure we have made Christ our foundation, if we find ourselves aimless, directionless, and looking to things, people or places in the world—even good things and people—to make us feel “normal” again, then we can know we haven’t grown true roots yet: the true roots of Christ. 

This isn’t to say that we don’t ever feel loss, or sadness or confusion in life’s long list of curve balls. It means we stay grounded at bat in the One who is guiding us, and will guide us, even in our times of upheaval. 

That’s a grounding in Him that waits for Him. 

Trusts in Him.

Pleads with Him to make this new “normal”—that we never factored into the equation—to make it okay. To give us peace. To bring His healing. To keep us confident in His outcome. 

To be for us whatever is lacking.

And to obey: everything He is teaching us. Everything He is convincing us of.

This rooting in Christ is what will take our seed—perhaps a seed that has cracked open and been prepared to anchor into His good soil all these years—and grow it large, even into a massive tree, with birds building nests in its branches (Matthew 13:31-32). 

This is the foundation on which we are able to finish strong. 

Jesus, in Luke 14: 28-30, explains:

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30).

We may have begun building, even thinking that the only cement we’re using is Jesus Christ. 

But then a day comes when we are so flummoxed by our circumstances and inner turmoil that our eyes are opened to the fact that our cement is not of Christ—not entirely. We have built a foundation on situations, status, people, places and our own capabilities—with Jesus thrown into the mix. 

The cementing that leads to eternal purpose, constant joy, a content and quiet life, fruitful labor for His kingdom, and endurance to meaningfully finish the race—come what may—is Christ. All Christ. 

Everything is founded on Him, not the other way around. 

The gift of times of testing is that out of them the roots of Christ can establish, grow and mature into the tallest of trees; where singing birds rest and take refuge.

Copyright Barb Harwood

"The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew." Zechariah 8:12a