Failing At Wisdom

We are starting a new series tonight called “How to Ruin Your Life,” and I hope that by the end of these four weeks you will have a full working knowledge on how to really screw up your life.

Let me reassure you, though—the point of all of this isn’t necessarily to lead you to destruction, but rather to lead you into a life that is filled with success. So for the next four of weeks, we’re going to be talking about topics like creating friendships that will stand the test of time, how to date in a way that will last, and using your phone wisely.

If you haven’t guessed it yet, this is a series on wisdom. Typically, when we mention in church that we’re talking about wisdom, everyone’s eyes seem to glaze over. In the church, we make some really big claims about wisdom. We claim that if only you could live life wisely, your entire life will change for the better!

See, the world has become suspicious of claims like this. When we make a claim like this about something, and it ends up not delivering what it promised, our tendency is to disregard that something altogether.

This phenomenon is called clickbaiting. You know clickbaiting. It’s when internet videos or articles have titles like, “He walked up to her with a bag of cheeseburgers and you won’t BELIEVE what happened next!” “When she tried this simple solution, you won’t BELIEVE how her life changed!” “6 tips to finding the perfect boyfriend … number 3 will SHOCK you!”

Clickbait is all around us, and 9 times out of 10 when it says “You won’t believe this,” the truth is we can believe, and those videos and blog articles that baited us into clicking make us hate them for wasting our time.

Wisdom is NOT clickbait

But the truth is wisdom is not clickbait, but it doesn’t promise an automatically fulfilled life. In fact, it promises hard work and taking the difficult road. Wisdom is not a BuzzFeed article that promises to get your life straight in five easy steps: it is a day-to-day struggle.

Wisdom is NOT a life hack

Wisdom is definitely not a life hack. You know what a life hack is right? Here’s a video just in case you need some examples of life hacks:

[Show video clip.]

Life hacks are these “simple” solutions that are supposed to add more time to our lives or give us quicker ways to get things done. Wisdom is not a life hack. Wisdom will always fail you if you treat it like one. Wisdom is a continual choice you have to make, and more importantly, wisdom must be something you want in your life.

1 Peter 2:2 CSB

Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation,

You must WANT Wisdom

Like newborn infants depend on milk to live, we have to depend on wisdom to grow—and not just to grow, but to survive you must be connected to wisdom.

Next, if you think that wisdom is free, then wisdom will always fail you. Wisdom is always bought with a price. Sometimes that price is your own blood, sweat, and tears, but often it’s bought with someone else’s. Wisdom is payed for by our own experiences, so if you’ve never experienced what you need to, you either end up paying for it with your own life, or you can find someone who already has.

Proverbs 13:20 says it like this:

Proverbs 13:20 CSB

The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.

Get Wisdom from others

If you find those who have already paid for their wisdom, who have already experienced what you’re going through, you will never have to pay for it yourself. But if you think that your friends, who are in the same boat as you, have the wisdom that you need, then you will end up paying for it yourself. You’ll suffer consequences. Wisdom that was never paid for, can never be considered wisdom.

In Proverbs 4:7, a father gives his son this advice:

Proverbs 4:7 CSB

Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

What the father is telling his son is that when we seek wisdom, we need to also gain insight. When we ask others for advice we need to be willing to accept whatever they say, and know that they’re giving us a perspective that isn’t ours.

Walk with the wise

The leaders in your life and the older people who are pouring into you have already faced the situations you will experience and know how to navigate life safely. Friends, however, are often just as clueless as you. In order to gain wisdom, you must walk with the wise and ask them to mentor you.

Wisdom is not free, and it’s not something that we just casually turn to when we feel like it. The cost of not gaining wisdom is too high, and when you don’t seek wisdom you will experience pain.

Wisdom is more than knowledge

Finally, if you really want to see wisdom fail in your life, only think of wisdom as a collection of knowledge. Just because you know a lot doesn’t mean you’re wise. If you want to really see wisdom take hold of your life, you need to get in a relationship with wisdom. Sounds weird, right?

Here’s how the father describes wisdom to his son in Proverbs 3:13-18:

Proverbs 3:13–18 CSB

Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold. She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire can equal her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left, riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy.

Chase after Wisdom

The father wants his son to think of wisdom as his spouse. It sounds awkward, but stay with me here. When you are married, your world revolves around that person. Every decision you make doesn’t just affect you; it affects the marriage. So when you’re married to wisdom, every decision requires wisdom to weigh in on it, as well.

Wise spouses don’t move somewhere, make a career change, or even decide on dinner without inviting their partners into the process. That’s what a relationship with wisdom looks like: It’s you inviting wisdom into every aspect of your life. When we become married to wisdom, the father says that wisdom will grant us a long life, and wisdom connects us to a purpose that is more valuable than money. When we make a decision without wisdom, we are cheating on wisdom itself, and the result is we cheat ourselves out of a valuable life.