Faith: Walking in Wisdom from Above: Proving Faith by Meek and Christlike Living

Introduction

Are you becoming the kind of disciple others should actually listen to, or are you simply collecting Bible knowledge while your life runs on a different “wisdom”? The central teaching of James 3:13–18 is that true wisdom is proven by Christlike conduct and meekness, and it can be traced to its source, either from above (God) or from below (the world, the flesh, and the devil). As we continue in James, often called the New Testament’s Proverbs, we’re still in the neighborhood of last week’s warning about the tongue and the desire to be a teacher (James 3:1–12). James is essentially pressing the question: Are you sure you’re in a position to give advice? That leads directly into the diagnostic question of James 3:13:

“Who is wise and understanding among you?” (James 3:13)

This question matters because your life is full of decisions that require wisdom, relationships, conflict, finances, career choices, trials, suffering, counseling needs, and the chaos of the world around you. And it matters because the people you walk with will shape you:

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20)

So I want to help you answer two questions personally: Am I walking in God’s wisdom? and Whose wisdom am I following?

Main Points

Are you becoming the kind of disciple others should actually listen to, or are you simply collecting Bible knowledge while your life runs on a different “wisdom”? The central teaching of James 3:13–18 is that true wisdom is proven by Christlike conduct and meekness, and it can be traced to its source, either from above (God) or from below (the world, the flesh, and the devil).

As we continue in James, often called the New Testament’s Proverbs, we’re still in the neighborhood of last week’s warning about the tongue and the desire to be a teacher (James 3:1–12). James is essentially pressing the question: Are you sure you’re in a position to give advice? That leads directly into the diagnostic question of James 3:13:

“Who is wise and understanding among you?” (James 3:13)

This question matters because your life is full of decisions that require wisdom, relationships, conflict, finances, career choices, trials, suffering, counseling needs, and the chaos of the world around you. And it matters because the people you walk with will shape you:

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20)

So I want to help you answer two questions personally: Am I walking in God’s wisdom? and Whose wisdom am I following?

Wisdom Is Life’s True Foundation

Wisdom is not a side topic in James; it’s one of the book’s main aims. When life is confusing, when you’re in trial, when you’re tempted, when you’re navigating rich and poor dynamics, when you’re trying to live out real religion, James keeps bringing you back to wisdom.

The Bible frames wisdom as God’s design for living. Proverbs says:

• “Do not forsake wisdom… Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.” (Proverbs 4:6–7)
• Wisdom is what God uses to build a life, like a foundation (echoing Jesus’ teaching about building on the rock; cf. Matthew 7:24–27).

So I’m urging you: don’t treat wisdom like an accessory to faith. Treat it like the structure your whole life sits on. Ask God for it. Pursue it. Build by it.

Choose Which Wisdom You’re Using

This isn’t mainly a call to “be wise” in some vague sense. It’s a call to discern which wisdom is driving you, because everyone is operating from some kind of wisdom.

There is a common “wisdom of the age”, the body of ideas and values shaped by a culture, a time period, social norms, and what “makes sense” to the world around you. It’s real in the sense that it influences how people make decisions, but it isn’t neutral.

And then there is wisdom “from above”, the wisdom James introduced earlier:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God… and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)

Here is a helpful way to think about it: wisdom is seeing life from God’s perspective and living accordingly. That’s why James can command something so unnatural as:

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials…” (James 1:2)

You don’t “feel” that naturally. But when God gives wisdom, He gives you His perspective, what He is doing, what He is producing, what He is worth, and that perspective changes how you live.

So let me press you gently: when you make choices, when you interpret suffering, when you respond to conflict, when you speak to others, are you using the wisdom of your moment, or the wisdom of God?

Show Wisdom Through Conduct And Meekness

James answers his own question very directly:

“Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.” (James 3:13)

Notice: wisdom is not merely a claim; it is a display. It has a substance you can see.

1. Good conduct means wisdom becomes visible through obedience and action. As Spurgeon put it (wisely): knowing a lot doesn’t make you wise, knowing how to live what you know does. It’s possible to be a “knowing fool,” full of information and empty of transformation.

I think of this like learning a language: you can memorize vocabulary and grammar charts, but until you’re actually living in it, speaking it, hearing it, using it, you don’t truly “have” it. God’s wisdom is like the language of heaven: it must move from the mind into the life.

2. Meekness means wisdom has a recognizable spirit about it. Meekness is not weakness; it is strength under control. James has already used pictures of power restrained: a horse’s strength directed by a bridle, a ship steered by a rudder, a fire set loose by a tiny spark (James 3:3–6). Wisdom from God doesn’t just produce correct actions, it produces a controlled strength that looks like gentleness.

So I’m discipling you toward this: don’t settle for being “right.” Ask God to make you wise, right actions with a Christlike posture.

Don’t Confuse Right Actions With Right Hearts

James refuses to let us evaluate wisdom only by externals. He moves from conduct to motives:

“But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.” (James 3:14)

This is where the Word gets honest with us. It’s possible to have religious activity on the outside while harboring corrupt motivations on the inside. James calls this bitter, like salty or polluted water coming from a spring (echoing James 3:11).

Two heart-drivers to watch closely:

• Bitter envy: I want what God gave someone else. Their life, their reputation, their marriage, their influence, their platform.
• Self-seeking (selfish ambition): I want outcomes that serve me first, even if I use spiritual language to get there.

And James says something sobering: if that’s what’s operating in your heart, don’t brag about your wisdom. In God’s eyes, it’s not wisdom, it’s a lie against the truth.

So I want you to do the deeper work: not only “What am I doing?” but “Why am I doing it?” Especially if you want to teach, lead, advise, influence, or correct others. Wisdom isn’t just the content of your counsel; it’s the motive and spirit behind it.

Identify The Source By The Fruit

James helps us trace the source of what’s coming out of us:

“This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.” (James 3:15) “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” (James 3:16)

Do you see the logic? Envy and self-seeking are not “small personality issues.” They are indicators of a wisdom that is:

• Earthly: bounded to this world’s priorities and payoff.
• Unspiritual/sensual: driven by the flesh, impulses, and self-centered desires.
• Demonic: aligned with the same rebellious pattern that opposes God’s rule.

And the outcome is predictable: confusion and every evil practice. That means this kind of “wisdom” doesn’t merely fail to help; it spreads disorder, internally in you, relationally in your home, and socially in the church.

So here is a discipleship test I want you to apply: When I follow my instincts and ambitions, do I produce peace, or confusion? Do I strengthen unity, or scatter it?

Pursue Wisdom From Above In Relationships

God’s wisdom is not only true; it is beautiful. James contrasts the bitter source with heaven’s wisdom:

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17)

This is what I want for you, not merely to “make better decisions,” but to become a certain kind of person: pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, consistent, sincere.

And this is where meekness becomes extremely practical:

• When you correct someone, God’s wisdom refuses quarrelsomeness.

“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach…” (2 Timothy 2:24–25)

• When you share your hope, God’s wisdom refuses arrogance.

“…be ready to give a defense… with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

• When you help a sinning brother or sister return, God’s wisdom refuses shame and harshness.

“Restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…” (Galatians 6:1)

If you’re here feeling separated, ashamed, uncertain whether you can come back, hear me: God’s heart is to restore you, and His wisdom comes with gentleness. And if you’re the one doing the restoring, your job is not to crush; it’s to carry the heart of Jesus.

Finally, remember Jesus’ promise:

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Meekness can feel like you’re “losing” in the moment, like you’re giving up control, giving up the last word, giving up the public win. But Jesus says meekness inherits. God honors those who trust His ways.

Plant Peace To Harvest Righteousness

James ends with a picture of what wisdom from above produces in community:

“Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:18)

This is not passive peacekeeping. It’s active peacemaking, the kind of wisdom that plants peace so that righteousness grows over time.

I want you to imagine your home, your friendships, your small group, your church life: are you sowing seeds that grow into righteousness, or seeds that grow into confusion? Wisdom from above doesn’t just win arguments; it builds environments where God’s righteousness can flourish.

Conclusion

James asks, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” and then he gives us a loving but uncomfortably clear mirror. Wisdom shows up in conduct and meekness, and it reveals its source by what it produces: either envy-driven confusion or peace-sown righteousness.

So I’m calling you to two responses today:

1. Examine your heart: ask God to expose bitter envy and self-seeking.
2. Ask for wisdom from above: and then practice it publicly, in gentleness, purity, mercy, and peace.

And be careful who you walk with, because “the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). Choose counsel that looks like Jesus.

Father, we confess that we often mistake knowledge for wisdom, and outward action for inward maturity. Search our hearts and reveal any bitter envy or selfish ambition. Forgive us for the ways we have boasted, argued, and spoken as if we were wise while our hearts were not aligned with You.

Lord, give us the wisdom that comes from above. Make us pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Teach us to show wisdom through good conduct and the meekness of wisdom. Make our words and our counsel safe, truthful, and life-giving.

For those who need restoration today, bring them home with Your gentleness. For those who are restoring others, keep them humble and watchful. And make us peacemakers who sow in peace, so that the fruit of righteousness would grow in our homes and in our church.

We honor Christ as Lord, and we ask all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Conclusion

James asks, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” and then he gives us a loving but uncomfortably clear mirror. Wisdom shows up in conduct and meekness, and it reveals its source by what it produces: either envy-driven confusion or peace-sown righteousness.

So I’m calling you to two responses today:

1. Examine your heart: ask God to expose bitter envy and self-seeking.
2. Ask for wisdom from above: and then practice it publicly, in gentleness, purity, mercy, and peace.

And be careful who you walk with, because “the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). Choose counsel that looks like Jesus.

Closing Prayer

Father, we confess that we often mistake knowledge for wisdom, and outward action for inward maturity. Search our hearts and reveal any bitter envy or selfish ambition. Forgive us for the ways we have boasted, argued, and spoken as if we were wise while our hearts were not aligned with You.

Lord, give us the wisdom that comes from above. Make us pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Teach us to show wisdom through good conduct and the meekness of wisdom. Make our words and our counsel safe, truthful, and life-giving.

For those who need restoration today, bring them home with Your gentleness. For those who are restoring others, keep them humble and watchful. And make us peacemakers who sow in peace, so that the fruit of righteousness would grow in our homes and in our church.

We honor Christ as Lord, and we ask all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.