– Today’s Community Scripture – 8/20/2025 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. James 3:13–18 (MSG) – Reflection: Wisdom isn’t just about knowing things; it’s about showing it through how we live. James reminds us that real wisdom is visible in our actions, especially when we’re humble and kind. If we’re driven by jealousy or selfish ambition, that’s not wisdom from God; it’s more like chaos waiting to happen. But when our hearts are full of peace, gentleness, and mercy, we reflect the kind of wisdom that builds us up instead of tearing us down. It’s not loud or boastful; it’s steady, sincere, and full of good fruit. Living wisely means being a peacemaker, planting seeds of peace that grow into a harvest of righteousness. – Where do we go from here? When we do what the reflective paragraph states, people will see it and want to know how you are able to discern or make decisions in such chaotic situations and areas of your life. What happens is the acceptance of Christ into our lives makes a huge space for the blessings of his coming into our lives, so that we will want to share what he has done for us. In doing so and working on how to navigate the world with patience, care, and the wisdom of life you have lived, you will aid the next person or people we encounter on our walks with Christ himself. He is the one who gives us the power to be able to do that thing. It doesn’t come from us personally; it comes from our acceptance of Christ himself. Not saying that a non-believer can’t have worldly wisdom, they can, but it is about dealing with how the world has treated you and not healing the wounds you have suffered from the world itself. A worldly person cannot teach or tell you how to fix the love you lost in your life. This passage of James always gets to me, because it reminds me of who I have become since he has come into my life. – Our Prayer for Today – Father, thank you for the words of your Word that we experience every day. It is a true blessing to have patience and wisdom for others who seek guidance in finding peace within themselves and you. We are so thankful for the help you have given us that we are happy to share it with others who need it as well. We should not keep it for ourselves; we should give it freely to those who are looking for it. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
Live Well, Live Wisely
