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25th February 2025
TuesdayReflection
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Don Stewart
has spoken in over thirty countries
proclaiming the message
What Is the Gift of the Word of Wisdom?
1 Corinthians 12:8
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Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge for the correct purpose.
All Christians are to ask God for wisdom on how to live.
James wrote the following words.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him
.....(James 1:5 NKJV).
Note that if we ask for wisdom, then the Lord has promised to give it to us.
In the same manner, Jesus promised wisdom for believers.
Luke records Him saying.
For I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict
.....(Luke 21:15 NRSV).
God has promised that believers can receive special wisdom.
There Is a Special Gift of Wisdom
Paul wrote the following about this gift to the Corinthians. He said
For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit
(1 Corinthians 12:8 NKJV).
Interestingly, this gift of wisdom stands first in a list of spiritual gifts found in
1 Corinthians 12:8-10.
Therefore it seems to be an extremely important gift.
However, this is the only place in Scripture where the gift is listed.
There Is a Difference of Opinion as to the Meaning and Purpose of the Gift
Bible-believers differ on the exact nature of the gift of the word of wisdom.
Some believe it was a temporary gift given to believers to receive and understand divine revelation.
Others do not believe that this was the sole purpose of the gift.
This is different from the gift of the word of knowledge.
The word of knowledge is the supernatural understanding of some type of truth while the word of wisdom uses knowledge for its proper end: the furtherance of God's kingdom.
The gift of the word of wisdom transcends any human genius, or insight.
It is a supernatural gift of God that only the Holy Spirit can impart.
Paul made it clear that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.
He wrote the following to the Corinthians.
So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe. God's way seems foolish to the Jews because they want a sign from heaven to prove it is true. And it is foolish to the Greeks because they believe only what agrees with their own wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the mighty power of God and the wonderful wisdom of God. This "foolish" plan of God is far wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is far stronger than the greatest of human strength
(1 Corinthians 1:20-25 NLT).
God's wisdom is not the same as the wisdom of the world.
The gift of the word of wisdom can be applied in the following ways.
The Holy Spirit may grant the believer the word of wisdom when answering persecutors.
Jesus promised this.
And you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you
(Matthew 10:18-20 ESV).
The Book of Acts gives examples of God providing wisdom to His people under these circumstances.
The gift was manifested in Peter and John as they spoke before the rulers and teachers in Jerusalem.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus
Acts 4:13 NRSV
It was shown when Stephen confronted the religious leaders:
But they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke
(Acts 6:10 NIV).
A valuable lesson is learned from this episode.
Even though a person speaks the supernatural wisdom of God there is no guarantee that people will listen to it.
The crowd murdered Stephen.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
Don Stewart
has written over twenty books on the subject of evidences for the Christian faith.
These include, The Basic Bible Study Series, You Be the Judge, 10 Reasons To Trust the Bible, and The Coming Temple.
In the last fifteen years, he has spoken in over thirty countries proclaiming the message that the Christian faith is both reasonable and intelligent.
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