I remember asking a little kid what he wanted to be when he grew up and getting a pretty surprising answer from the youngster. “I want to be wise,” he said. I chuckled a little and asked a follow up question, “So how are you going to get to be wise?” “I dunno,” the young boy said as he went back to playing with his action figures to signal this conversation was over. At least he was honest.
Wisdom is one of those hard to define elements of life. We can probably recognize it better than we can define it. Webster’s first definition for the word is “knowledge gained by having experiences in life.” The second definition is “The natural ability to understand things that most people cannot understand.” Another definition says that wisdom is “the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships.” All of these seem as if they are different sides of a multi-faceted jewel of a concept rather than entries competing with one another.
As we start off our focus year, thinking about Sprouting in the Spirit in the ways that Jesus demonstrated growth in Luke 2:52, we start by thinking that He increased in “wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” So what did it mean for Jesus to grow or increase in wisdom? Well, according to Webster’s, it means that Jesus grew in experiences of life, and that he grew in the ability to understand things, and finally that He grew in the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships. I think we can point to moments in the Gospels that show that He had significantly matured in these ways before the beginning of His public ministry.
As we see Jesus’ maturity in these ways, we are called to emulate His maturity as much as possible. We will never grow to be His equal, but we can strive to get as close as we can (which still may be a far distance off His own mark). This striving and endeavoring to imitate Christ, however, can seem mystifying. How can we get to be wise? Thankfully, God gives us answers to this question. We get wisdom through loving God and loving our neighbor.
First, we get wisdom through loving God. If we love God, then we love to hear Him, which means that we love to hear His Word. God’s Word then, powered by His Holy Spirit, places His wisdom in our hearts as we hear His Word. Also, if we love God, we see value in His way of living and begin to emulate it as naturally as children emulate their parents. As we attempt more and more to act as God acts, utilizing mercy and justice and care, we grow out of our experiences. Secondly, we get wisdom through loving our neighbor. The more we grow in our experiences with our neighbors, the better we understand them. The more we listen to our neighbors, the more we are able to discern their inner qualities and relationships to us.
God has provided ways for us to sprout wisdom wherever we may be. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, our growth into wisdom is not a requirement for us to gain entrance to the Kingdom of God. There is no letter grade that we have to achieve in wisdom. But rather, we are invited to sprout where we are planted. If you feel like you are already on the path of wisdom, then great! There is more wisdom to be attained through loving God and neighbor. If you feel like you’re not very wise at all, then that’s great too! You are invited to sprout in that place to grow more in the maturity of Christ.
Take a moment today and ponder: How could you sprout in love for God and your neighbor? What is a new experience that you might have? As you come up with that answer, pray to God about it and ask Him if it is the right step – and then move forward, experiencing the sprouting growth that God leads you toward in His Spirit. And through it all, remember that Christ has already made you completely mature and ready for His Kingdom through His death and Resurrection so that you don’t feel compelled, but invited to grow into His image.