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knowledge
puffeth up,
charity edifieth
1Cor8:1b Conventional wisdom will give us insight on how to succeed in business, do well in sports, manage our money, and be successful with the opposite sex. Yet having conventional wisdom does not make you spiritually wise necessarily. With conventional wisdom we achieve natural victories, with spiritual wisdom we may not be always worldly successful. In his first letter to the Corinthians St. Paul addresses many natural issues such as marriage, taking a brother to court, eating meat offered to idols, division in the church, and partaking of the body of Christ. What becomes very evident is that there is a difference in approaching these things from a natural viewpoint and a spiritual one. Unless we have the mind of Christ we will approach life from the wrong perspective. Where religion tends to divide and separate, holding your beliefs above another, spiritual wisdom will endure suffering and wrong for the sake of unity and to keep the weak brethren from falling away. Where the natural life wants what is rightfully theirs, the spiritually minded may forsake what is deserved for a higher goal. That is the difference. We learn to endure hardness as soldiers of Christ. We sacrifice and forsake the world to be at it for Christ. We surrender our will to embrace the will of God. We let go of the natural good in many instances, like secular entertainment, music, literature, and sports, to spend time in the word, prayer, nature, and silence. The wisdom from above is pure, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruit.(Jm3:17) The wisdom from below seeks only what is good for itself. To be worldly wise does not necessarily mean we are spiritually wise. In many cases just the opposite. In order to be like Christ we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. In Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive. Those who reject Christianity in many cases see what Christ is asking of us and are not willing to give it up for God. They see the choice and esteem it too great a price. They prefer the pleasures of the world. But for those of us who have seen the choice and decided to make a leap of faith, over time we begin to gain spiritual wisdom. We begin to live for Christ and his church, the body of believers, rather than pursuing worldly gain and because we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness , the other things will be given to us as well. So be at it for God and God will back you up no matter what the situation, no matter what the cost. God wants us to prosper and have good success, even as our soul prospers, but it may mean giving up everything before we come into the fulness of Christ. Be spiritually wise! amen |