James 3:13-16 "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your heart, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual and devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work"
What a powerful scripture for me today! The scriptures tell us that knowledge has is like a double edged sword. While knowledge is good and is a gift from God ( Prov 2:6). The bible also warns that to have knowledge can also cause us to become proud and arrogant (1 cor 8:1) We are not to reject knowledge because a lack of knowledge or to reject knowledge is to is to bring God's judgment upon yourself (Hos 4:6).
Doesn't this all sound so contradictory? I think James helps us to sort this all out. God wants us to have and increase in knowledge but how we hold this knowledge will determine the fruit of it in our lives. With knowledge comes great power. We have power to bring life or to hasten death. We can set people free or use that same knowledge to condemn. God tells us to use our knowledge with "meekness". I looked up the phrase "meekness of wisdom" in the Strong's and the word picture came to life for me. Meek wisdom is wisdom that restrains the right to pounce on someone because you are right. It uses knowledge with a sensitivity to those ways in which love can be best expressed and truth can ultimately set free. Right knowledge has all the strength of a giant elephant at a circus. If the elephant should choose to, he could pick the trainer up by his twiggy little neck and toss him like a rag doll across the ring. But all that power is being controlled. If I feel the need to overpower someone else with my knowledge I violate the law of love and my wisdom is inconsistent with the heart of God.
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