One of the wisest men in the Bible was Solomon. In 1 Kings 3, we see that the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon could have asked for wealth or fame or power instead he asked for wisdom and God was pleased by his answer and gave Solomon not only wisdom but also great wealth and power. Solomon went on to become the wisest of all the kings and was particularly known for his wisdom in solving complicated cases like the one where two mothers claimed that the child was their own. Solomon found out who the real mother was by ordering the baby to be cut in half so each mother could have one-half of the baby. This resulted in the real mother being revealed when she cried out to spare the life of her child, giving up her own right to the child in the process. Such wisdom can only come from someone who received it from God.

In today’s world, we are faced with a lot of important decisions. Some decisions have life-long consequences and some are life-changing. Imagine if we had the wisdom of Solomon in these situations. The Bible says in Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” So how does one get this wisdom from God? James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Wisdom is something that we can ask God to give us just like Solomon did. We all need wisdom to make important decisions in our lives. Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age as we see with Solomon. He was a young man when we asked God for wisdom and Solomon was wiser than all of the wisest elder men in his council.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” According to the Bible, wisdom is not gained by reading or studying but rather by knowing God and asking him to give us Godly wisdom. James 3:17 says “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.”  According to the Bible, the wisdom that comes from heaven is not necessarily the same as Earthly wisdom. Wisdom from God allows us to be peace-loving, considerate, and merciful Christians full of love and compassion. We can all gain Earthly wisdom on our own but Godly wisdom is something that is only gained through prayer and seeking God. As Christians let us always pray to seek Godly wisdom from up above so we can make wise decisions in our lives and live as compassionate Christians, the way that God wants us to.