Wisdom
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Bible Passages
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." | James 1:5-6 (NIV)
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” | Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
“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.”
“With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.” | Job 12:12 (NIV)
“How much better is it to get wisdom than gold and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!” | Proverbs 16:16 (NLT)
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." | Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)
"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding - indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." | Proverbs 2:1-5 (NIV)
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." | Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Quotes
"Wisdom is knowledge applied. Head knowledge is useless on the battlefield. Knowledge stamped on the heart makes one wise." | Beth Moore
"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays." | Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give.”
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.” | Groucho Marx
"The older I get, the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first - a process which often reduces the most complex human problems to manageable proportions." | Dwight D. Eisenhower
"As we trust God to give us wisdom for today's decisions, He will lead us a step at a time into what He wants us to be doing in the future." | Theodore Epp
"A saying I heard years ago: 'It doesn't matter what you do. Just do something, even if it's wrong!' That's the most stupid counsel I've ever heard. Never do what's wrong! Do nothing until it's right. Then do it with all your might. That's wise counsel." | Charles Swindoll
“It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.” | Henry David Thoreau
“The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give.” | William Arthur Ward
“Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” | St. Francis of Assisi
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” | Augustine
“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” | Charles Spurgeon
“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.” | Francis Bacon
“There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool.” | Francis Bacon
“The sublimity of wisdom is to do those things living which are to be desired when dying.” | Jeremy Taylor
“If you young fellows were wise, the devil couldn't do anything to you, but since you aren't wise, you need us who are old.” | Martin Luther
“If thou art wise thou knowest thine own ignorance; and thou art ignorant if thou knowest not thyself.” | Martin Luther
“A wise man may look ridiculous in the company of fools.” | Thomas Fuller
“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.” | Francis of Assisi
“God is completely sovereign. God is infinite in wisdom. God is perfect in love. God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.” | Jerry Bridges
“If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get on your knees! Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is the proper use of knowledge.” | Vance Havner
“There is nothing more foolish than an act of wickedness; there is no wisdom equal to that of obeying God.” | Albert Barnes
“Listen well, and you will be pronounced a "brilliant" conversationalist!” | R. Kent Hughes
“’Wise’ speaks not of one who merely knows some fact, but of one who is skilled in the art of godly living. He submits to Scripture and knows how to apply it to his circumstances.” | John MacArthur
“We do have a responsibility to make wise decisions or to discover the will of God, whichever term we may prefer to use. But God's plan for us is not contingent upon our decisions. God's plan is not contingent at all. God's plan is sovereign. It includes our foolish decisions as well as our wise ones.” | Jerry Bridges
“To acknowledge you were wrong yesterday is to acknowledge you are wiser today.” | Charles Spurgeon
“Eyes that look are common, eyes that see are rare.” | J. Oswald Sanders
"Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things" | Stephen R. Covey
“Run after God with all your heart. Then follow your heart.” | Bill Noffke
“It takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did it wrong.” | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.” | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Let us, then, cultivate an attitude of courage as over against the investigations of the day. None should be more zealous in them then we. None should be more quick to discern truth in every field, more hospitable to receive it, more loyal to follow it wherever it leads." | B.B. Warfield
“Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest.” | Mark Twain
“Some people think they have discernment when actually they are just suspicious...Suspicion comes out of the unrenewed mind; discernment comes out of the renewed spirit.” | Joyce Meyer
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there will be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” | Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
"Many of our trouble occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities; culture ("everyone is doing it"), tradition ("we've always done it"), reason ("it seems logical"), or emotion ("it just felt right")." | Rick Warren
“It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” | Roy Disney
"Discernment is God's call to intercession, never to fault-finding." | Corrie Ten Boom
“There comes a time in the spiritual journey when you start making choices from a very different place. And if a choice lines up so that it supports truth, health, happiness, wisdom and love, it’s the right choice.” | Angeles Arrien
“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” | Martin Luther King, Jr.
"God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how." | Henry Ward Beecher
"When an answer I did not expect comes to a prayer which I believed I truly meant, I shrink back from it; if the burden my Lord asks me to bear be not the burden of my heart's choice, and I fret inwardly and do not welcome His will, then I know nothing of Calvary love." | Amy Carmichael