Levels of Wisdom

Scripture: Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. ... Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 7:25,40

Observation: According to the footnotes, Paul is likely answering a specific question posed to him by the church at Corinth in this section. He provides an interesting context or disclaimer about his answer. He clarifies that his answer is not a command from God, but instead is his personal judgment. However, the then turns around and gives his personal judgment credibility by showing that the Lord has filled him with the Spirit and thus his judgment is trustworthy.

In other words, Paul delineates at least three levels of potential "wisdom" or "discernment" when providing this response to the Corinthians:

1) Command of the Lord - wisdom that is directly from the scriptures and thus based on revealed knowledge and an educated understanding of the word of God

2) Inspired Judgment - wisdom that is based in divine discernment of the current situation and thus revealed by the Holy Spirit

3) Personal Judgment - wisdom that is an opinion, which may or may not based on an understanding of God, and is definitely without divine revelation

Unfortunately, in the church I often see a fourth level of "wisdom":

4) Personal Interpretation - wisdom that represents a flawed or immature understanding of scripture, usually supported by very specific passages interpreted out of context

Application: While recent issues have shown me several people who practice the third and fourth kind of wisdom in our church, I'll make this more personal ... how often have I been guilty of personal judgment and/or interpretation?

I do believe that my background - my growing knowledge of the bible with my educational training - gives me an educated understanding of the word of God and thus generally able to properly interpret his commands. However, I also believe that I do not spend the time that I should in discipline - prayer, fasting, worship - in order to receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit. In other words ... my 'wisdom', when not directly based on the word of God, is likely some kind of personal wisdom that therefore is insufficient at best.

Paul tells me what I should be doing. He directly aligns the quality of his judgment/wisdom to one thing - the Holy Spirit. I need to spend more time being in tune with the Holy Spirit ... in prayer, in quiet time of listening, in fasting, and in worship. I specifically need to pray to God for assistance in an issue, and then shut up, get quiet, and listen. And not listening to myself, or my own thoughts, or my desired results, but to the Spirit that I do know is within me. Before I expect even a little bit of this from others, I need to become so much better at it myself.

Prayer: Dear Lord, today I do surrender to you my concerns about various issues. I turn over the issues of legalism in our church, and rude behavior from several. I also turn over to you my thoughts about how to proceed here at work in order to improve the lives of others. In all cases, may I quit formulating my own schemes and plans, and instead simply listen for your still, small voice. Please provide me with inspired judgment, divine discernment, revealed by your Spirit. Amen.