I love lists. To do lists. Grocery lists. Christmas gift lists. Blog post lists. You name a list, I love it.

So you can imagine that I love God’s lists. His Word is filled with them. I’m sure you know some of them. The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. The characteristics of love in 1 Corinthians 13. How we should live for God in 1 Peter 4. This list could go on and on. Perhaps you could share a few of your favorite lists!

A list that I believe I’ve overlooked can be found in James 3. James shares with his readers and with us what heavenly wisdom is like. Let’s see what he has to say.

This entire section of James speaks to wisdom and that we are to be wise and to show our wisdom by living a good life (James 3:13-18). And then James shares some of the characteristics of heavenly wisdom.

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17 – NIV)

So what does heavenly wisdom look like?

It is pure.

Pure in nature. Pure in attitude. Pure in ambition. Pure in all ways. Of course, our human desires will be tempted to move from complete purity, so we must rely on God’s Spirit to help us with this.

David desired purity in his life and his prayer to God in Psalm 51:10(NIV) is one that we can use when we feel we’ve lost our balance. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

It is peace-loving.

Peace may not be easily found in our world. King David grew weary of those who hated peace. Perhaps you know of someone who likes to stir the pot and get feathers ruffled.

As we use heavenly wisdom, we pursue peace. Jesus said this of peacemakers. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” ( Matthew 5:9 – NIV) That alone is reason enough to be peace-loving!

It is submissive.

You may be cringing at the word submissive. It isn’t a word that is attractive in our society. But we know from Scripture that it is a characteristic that we, as Christians, are to possess.

Perhaps you might think of it as willing to yield. Allow someone else to go before you.

On my return flight from SE Asia, we were going through security at LAX. It had been a long night, my carry-on bags were in disarray, I was trying to separate the items, and I guess I took just a little too long.

The woman behind me was agitated. She spoke words that were hurtful. She even knocked over one of my trays. Finally, I pulled my belongings off the conveyer belt and said, “Go ahead.”

Her frustration didn’t need to ruin my day.

Paul tells the Ephesians to “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21 – NIV) Heavenly wisdom will always be submissive…out of reverence for Christ.

It is full of mercy.

God has shown great mercy to those who accept Him and as we’ve seen His example, we are to show mercy. In fact, we are to be full of mercy! Dictionary.com defines mercy as “compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence”

Mercy is not to be extended to just those we love, but also to our enemies. To those who have offended us. Because, isn’t that what God did for us?

“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:3-5 – NIV)

It is full of good fruit.

The New Testament is filled with passages about good fruit. We are to produce good fruit in our lives. Jesus even said the world would know us by our fruit.

Our words, our attitudes, our thoughts, our actions are to be such that others will know who we belong to. Others should have no doubt that we are Christ-followers. We are to possess God’s Fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23 – NIV)

It is impartial.

Earlier in the book of James, he spoke of loving all people, regardless of their status in this world. Obviously, heavenly wisdom is to be this way as well.

Romans 2:11 tells us that God doesn’t show favoritism. Timothy was warned against showing favoritism (1 Timothy 5:21). Favoritism or impartiality will lead to the degrading of another. It simply cannot be part of God’s Kingdom.

It is sincere.

Again, we see verse after verse in Scripture that leads us to the truth of sincerity. If we are not sincere in our faith, our love, our hearts, or our actions toward others, our insincerity is transparent.

Not only should our wisdom be sincere, but this is also the way we are to approach God. Hebrews 10:22 (NIV) says, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

There is certainly a lot to learn about heavenly wisdom!

But let’s remember that James also tells us that we are to ask God for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5 – NIV)

So why not ask God for heavenly wisdom? Why allow another day to go by without His wisdom to guide you? Go ahead! Ask Him!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna