Talk about a few verses that read like they are straight from Proverbs!  Today, James hits us with some ideas related to wisdom, and how wisdom actually looks in our lives.  There are only 5 verses, but there is a ton here to unpack.

So, James starts off with a challenge - as if he is saying, “Are YOU a wise person?  You want to know how to tell?”  James is suggesting that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are the antithesis of wisdom, that their existence in our hearts is a telling sign that wisdom is lacking.  Think about that for a second though, as that is a pretty big idea.

I have often thought of wisdom has having 2 components, knowing what to do AND having the integrity, the courage, and the fortitude to actually act in accordance with that knowledge.  Another way to say it might be that wisdom is knowledge in action; not just knowledge, but knowledge that is applied into real life.  James may be suggesting that a root cause of failing to either know what to do or to having the integrity to actually apply that knowledge is a deep-rooted issue - jealousy, selfish ambition.   As I think about that though, that makes a ton of sense.  If not for comparing myself to others, rather than to the person God has designed me to be, I am sure there are a TON of mistakes, both willfully committed mistakes and unknowing, that I would have avoided.  The drive that comes from competition can be a healthy drive, but it is definitely a two-edged sword, and it is absolutely true that I can push myself to the edge of what’s wise in the name of trying to conquer, trying to succeed against others, trying to be the best.  If you just think about it for a second, is there really anything more evil than that little internal moment of celebration that we have all had at some point or another when another person has failed; when their failure meant we had success, or we were a leg up?  Celebrating another’s failure isn’t loving in any way...it is selfish.  Yuck!  That’s human nature at its worst.

Today, I am going to be looking for that inclination to value myself over others; to value my own needs and desires above others.  I am going to look to spot moments of selfishness.  Today, incidentally, my family is back in town again, so today is the day where I really get to apply yesterday’s challenge in conjunction with today’s; to be courageously complementary, and perhaps even pay a complement to a competitor whom I admire, to actively push back on jealousy.  I will have to be looking for a way to do that today.