What Is Wisdom?

I am taking a class on the book of Proverbs over at Koinonia Institute. I thought I'd post a quick answer to one of my discussion questions because I think it's a good question that each of us should consider.

Use your own words to define wisdom. Besides Jesus, who is the wisest person you know? Why?

There are several ways to describe wisdom, but I believe the definition I would most attain for in my own life would be an ability to consistently and accurately discern God’s will coupled with the learned, disciplined willpower to obey it.

Solomon was one who was given the gift of wisdom. He was able to write all sorts of proverbs that helped many people, but ultimately that wisdom only resulted in a head-knowledge, as his life did not become Christ-like and he strayed from the center of God’s will.

Wisdom is useless if its direction is not obeyed, and I believe one is not truly wise unless he or she is somehow able to both obtain wisdom and then obey its promptings.

Besides Jesus, the wisest person I know is my mother. She consistently puts into action the things she believes God would have her do, and this, to me, is the essence of wisdom.