Wisdom Matters

Jesus taught us how to love God and one another. It was the most important focus of his teaching, which is why it’s the most important thing for us to focus on as well. 

God’s priorities have not changed from the beginning of time. Eve was created for Adam so they could love one another. But they sinned when they loved themselves and each other more than they loved God. Every sin known to man is rooted in the original sin, which is why the goal of pleasing God should be our highest aim.

The easiest way to please God can be summed up in the words “love God and love one another.” Those words are the theme of Scripture and should be the theme of our lives as his children.

If we truly want to please God with our lives, we need only examine the ways we have chosen to dwell in his love and share that love with others. Evangelism isn’t as complicated as we tend to make it. What is complicated is the work it takes to live with the simplified priorities of Christ.

God’s priority has been clear “from the beginning.” We are called to love one another. If we love others:

We will teach people that there is one Creator God and they can know him.

—We will tell them they are greatly and powerfully loved by their Creator and show them his love through ours.

—We will teach them God’s words of truth rather than encouraging them to live with the opinions of the world.

—We will want the best for their lives now, understanding that the best has an impact on their lives eternal.

Wisdom is pleasing God, and he has called us to love one another as Jesus has loved us. That has been his call from the beginning, and it always will be. We will please God when we share his goals.

Our evangelism pleases God when our evangelism is led by God’s Spirit. The final lesson Jesus taught his disciples before his ascension was a lesson of evangelism. 

He began that lesson with this important point: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” When Jesus used the word all, he was telling his disciples that, apart from him, they have no authority at all. It is crucial to remember that the only authority in our lives is Jesus himself. That statement is worth hours of thought and a lifetime of obedience.

The only people who are able to fulfill the next words of Christ are those who have submitted to Christ as the One who has all authority. Only then can they “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all” that Jesus has commanded.

Our evangelism pleases God when it is authored by our only authority. Jesus is the reason we “go and make disciples” because that is his continued ministry through his Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus does the speaking. Jesus knows who is ready to listen and ready to receive their salvation. Jesus knows when we should love, share, teach, and encourage. Jesus knows when and how we are to share the gospel and make disciples of all nations. Jesus knows what we cannot because he is the One with all authority.

Pleasing God is wisdom, and God is pleased with our evangelism. Every Christian is called to make disciples of all nations. When we made Jesus our Lord, we invited him to be our Savior and Lord. We gave him authority over our plans, our schedules, and our message. He can interrupt our lives anytime to use us for his higher purpose. That is a life lived wisely submitted to Christ’s authority. That is a life that pleases God.

Popular thought teaches that we are to take care of ourselves and put ourselves first. The truth is, everyone matters, and no one matters more than another unless someone needs to matter more in that moment. We cannot live our lives to please God unless we submit our lives to the God we want to please.

We exist because of our heavenly Father, the one true God. We exist because of the work of Jesus Christ in our lives and the sacrifice he made for our lives. We literally owe everything we are and all that we have to our triune God.

After Paul had taught that lesson to the Corinthian believers, he discussed their differences. To sum it up, he said they were diverse in their knowledge of God, their strength in God, and in their discernment of God. The point was not to compare the differences; instead, it was to realize that every Christian has the same God who created them with some of those differences yet loves each with the same love. 

So often our culture is consumed with the ways people are different. Comparisons usually end with an opinion of who is right and who is wrong. The truth is, we are all both right and wrong. That’s why we aren’t called to please everyone. All people are called to please their Creator because he would be the common denominator for all our differences. 

Imagine a world where everyone had the same objective of pleasing God. How would that change our conversations, our friendships, and our sense of well-being? That is the culture that God would have chosen for everyone, but that culture isn’t possible apart from Christ. Everyone exists because of God, but not everyone exists for the sake of God.

Wisdom is pleasing God. It is wise to remember why we are here, where we are going, and to live alongside the One who created us. We exist today and eternally because of our one true God. It is him we should wisely choose to please.

Jesus was preaching to the crowds gathered at the Sea of Galilee. It has been said that every lesson Jesus taught can be traced back to his Sermon on the Mount. When we want our own lives to please God, we need simply to live the lessons Jesus taught that day. One of those lessons had to do with how we should value our possessions.

“You cannot serve God and money” is a familiar and difficult truth that Jesus taught. The key to understanding his message is to study the verb. Jesus didn’t say, “You cannot have God and money.” Christians just cannot serve money ahead of God. We cannot make our money our master.

Do we spend more thoughts on our money or on our faith? Do we value the “stuff” we own more than the opportunities our faith provides? What governs your list of priorities? If our money is our master, we cannot serve and please God.

We can be poor and value money more than we should. We can be wealthy and do the same. We can find our purpose in what we earn or what we are able to give. We can be devoted to our source of income or devoted to our source of life. 

None of us can live with God’s perspective on money unless Christ is our master, our King. That has always been true and will remain true until we are living in heaven. Gold is valued in heaven as pavement for the streets. We won’t need money for a house payment because we are given a mansion. We won’t need to pay for food because a banquet is provided. We won’t have to worry about serving two masters because we will always and forever have only One.

Wisdom is pleasing God. Is God your master, or is your money controlling too much of your life? We “cannot serve” both. Let’s wisely follow the teaching of Christ, repeating Joshua’s words and witness: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lᴏʀᴅ” (Joshua 24:15).

Our plans may or may not please God. Our good ideas might not be God’s ideas. Our daily lives will only be pleasing to God if we walk through the day “obeying the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ.”

God has a voice. We have all seen the passages that begin with the words, “And God said.” How did they know it was God speaking? Should we be worried if we haven’t heard God’s voice ourselves?

God has a voice, and he still speaks to his children today, just as he did throughout the days of biblical history. God’s voice was and is somehow audible to whomever he is speaking but usually inaudible to others. His voice is real and his message is clear to the one who stands ready and willing to listen. Do you recognize the voice of God in your life?

God speaks today primarily through the words of Scripture. God will never speak a word to us that doesn’t align with biblical truth. We call our Bibles “God’s word” for a reason. Every time we read our Bibles, we are listening to the voice of God. But God also wants to remain in daily conversations with us as we live our lives. Our thoughts and prayers are often the way he “directs our paths.” 

Those who walk with the voice of the Lord are those who walk in obedience to his Spirit. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” It is always a mistake to think that we can obey God apart from his daily leadership in our lives. And we can’t please God if we do not obey his voice.

When my mom calls, she doesn’t have to say, “This is mom.” She just starts talking and I immediately know her voice. The same can be true of God. When you spend a great deal of time listening to someone, their voice becomes very familiar.

Wisdom is pleasing God. Our Bibles are God’s voice and God’s wisdom. We need only trust and obey his words to walk in his Spirit and please him. We will learn to recognize his voice as we learn to listen. Nothing would please God more.

The book of Zephaniah is rarely the subject of sermons or even Bible studies. Zephaniah wrote to the Southern Tribes of Judah about the “Day of the Lord” and the judgment that day would bring.

The Southern Tribes knew how and why God had judged the Northern Tribes yet had begun to think God would not judge them in those same ways. Zephaniah wrote his letter to tell them that God is fair, just, and unchanging. God will always judge what he has always judged.

Included among all of the “woes” and frightening words about God’s judgment, Zephaniah also included words of hope. The prophet wanted the people of Judah to understand that, while God will punish the sins of the nations, he will always be merciful to his people. Zephaniah said that Judah would fall but also that God would fully restore and redeem the faithful.

Those who will please God are never without hope, regardless of the circumstances that surround us. The godly Jews were taken captive alongside their ungodly brothers. Walking with God doesn’t mean we can avoid every diagnosis, be kept from every storm, or live with constant prosperity. It does mean that as we walk through the circumstances of our earthly lives, we are able to walk with Jesus and the hope of heaven’s perfection.

Zephaniah described the hope of those who walk with the Lord. He said, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” It is good to live a life that God will rejoice over.

Wisdom is pleasing God. That wisdom will carry us through this life with hope because we can know God is in our midst and he is mighty to save.

One of the best indicators of a life or a church that is pleasing to God is the unity we have with our fellow believers. The first-century Christians whom Paul ministered to came from diverse backgrounds and cultures. They had very little in common outside of their faith. Yet, their faith drew them to share similar goals and values for their lives. They had been filled with the same Holy Spirit, and each had been given the same promise of eternal life in heaven.

Paul defined the unity produced by God’s Holy Spirit in his words to the Philippian church. He prayed they would be unified and “complete his joy” by being of “the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” Paul was telling them to think with the “mind” of the Holy Spirit, the source of their unity.

According to 1 Corinthians 2:16, all Christians have been given “the mind of Christ.” That is a powerful and overwhelming truth. We underestimate our abilities when we limit them to our human natures. We are capable of knowing Christ and having his thoughts. We can see this world through his eyes and discern situations as he would through his Holy Spirit.

What, then, hinders us from walking in his Spirit? We want to please God, so why do we continue to make mistakes? Paul helps with those answers as well. He taught the church in Philippi, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3–5).

Our unity is pleasing to God because it is only possible when we are walking in his Holy Spirit. God gave us amazing gifts through our faith in Christ Jesus. Take some time to consider this fact of Scripture: when you were saved, you were given the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ. Wisdom is pleasing God. You have been given all the help you need to live a life that God is pleased with and ready to bless.

My mom used to keep a bowl of artificial fruit on the center of our table. The fruit never lost its color, aged, or spoiled. That fruit required minimal care to keep it looking fresh and real. It looked nice because it wasn’t real.

It’s tempting to display our faith like a bowl of artificial fruit. A person can learn how to make their faith look more perfect than it really is. We can feel better about our faith if we don’t show anyone the flaws that exist in our lives.

Genuine faith has imperfections, but such faith is able to feed others. Paul said the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). Knowing whether or not our faith is real isn’t difficult. Real faith produces real fruit. 

When we live our lives to please God, we cannot please him with artificial faith and expect reward. The author of Proverbs 21:3 said, “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” God isn’t pleased simply because the presentation of our faith to others looks right. God knows our hearts.

We still make the same mistakes as God’s children have made throughout time. The Jewish people had begun to make sacrifices at the temple out of a sense of duty rather than a sense of true repentance. Christians today still visit a priest or say a prayer and think the words earn forgiveness rather than the fact that we have genuine repentance in our hearts.

God rewards an honest faith with all of its flaws because such genuine faith marks a true relationship with God and a true witness to others. Wisdom is pleasing God. We cannot please God with an artificial faith that produces artificial fruit in our lives. We can please God when we come to him, bruises and all, with an honest and genuine faith.

Per Oxford Languages, the word zealous means “showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.” When do the zealous please God? The answer: when the zealous pursue a right relationship with him as their King.

God gave us his Son, Jesus, to “redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession.” The Holy God of the universe wanted us to be fit for heaven so that we could dwell in his perfection. Jesus gave his life so that we could live as the redeemed, purified children of God.

Then Paul described what it means to live worthy of God’s sacrifice for our redemption. Paul taught that we should be “zealous for good works.” What Paul was saying was that we should be “zealous” to do the works God wants to accomplish through the direction of his Holy Spirit in our lives.

I sometimes wonder what people of other cultures think when they see film clips of football fans at a playoff game. What do you think when you attend or watch a political rally? The evening news often reflects the zealous behavior of people who have no knowledge or goal of pleasing God with their “good works.” 

Most Christians understand that God has called us to live a life of doing good wherever we go. Not as many understand that we are to be zealous with our witness and works.

When last were you “zealous for good works,” as Paul suggested? Wisdom is pleasing God. God wants more than our Christian activity. God wants us to be zealous Christians who live with passionate faith and compassionate love for those around us. That zeal is pleasing to God.

Solomon became the king of Israel when he was just a young man, probably around the age of twenty. His father, King David, even with his wrong choices, was considered a great leader of the nation. When Solomon was to become king, he went to Gibeon, the most sacred place at that time. (The temple in Jerusalem had not yet been built).

Solomon “loved the Lᴏʀᴅ” (1 Kings 3:3) and went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to the Lord on that altar. While in Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream saying, “Ask what I shall give you” (v. 5). Solomon, grateful for God’s “steadfast love,” responded to God saying, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (v. 9). Solomon’s response to God is one of the best definitions of the meaning and value of God’s wisdom.

First Kings 3:10 says, “It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.” God is pleased when we understand our need for his wisdom and ask him for “an understanding mind” so that we can know God’s will and “discern between good and evil.” When last did our prayers please God in that same way? Will our next prayer requests please God?

Pleasing God is easy when we understand and trust that he is God. Our Bibles reveal all we need to know in order to trust his greatness. Solomon knew he was a young, inexperienced man who was now the king of Israel. He knew God’s wisdom was what he needed most. And Scripture says that knowledge pleased the Lord. 

It was then that God told Solomon, “Because you have asked this . . . . I give you a wise and discerning mind” (vv. 11–12). Solomon didn’t ask for riches and power, but his wisdom and his obedience to God led him to gain both.

Wisdom is pleasing God. When we know how to please God and live obediently with that goal, we have gained God’s wisdom and his blessings.