Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18 ESV)
I have a confession to make… I hate pineapples. I have another confession… I hate coconuts. Imagine my surprise when I’m out at the shaved ice (snow cone) trailer one afternoon and I decide to be bold and try a new flavor that I know nothing about… Pina Colada. If you don’t already know, Pina Colada is code for “coconut and pineapple”… It seems as though some sick person had the audacity to actually combine the two worst things in the world, give it a tricky name, and sell it to unsuspecting consumers.
James reminds his readers that God is not fooled, what we are will eventually become obvious to everyone. I was fooled by the fancy name Pina Colada, but I wasn’t fooled by the taste. Just because someone says that something is wise, doesn’t make it wise. True wisdom comes from God. False wisdom can be spotted by what it produces. False wisdom says hold a grudge and become bitter… but that’s not God telling you to do that… that is demonic thinking. Godly wisdom produces peace, reason and mercy. Want to figure out what kind of wisdom you’ve been buying, see what fruit shows up in your life… hopefully it’s not something rotten like a coconut or pineapple.
The Hill House 