How to have wisdom along with zeal
The fear of the LORDis the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. - Proverbs 1:7
The Methodist pastor, William Sangster, told the story of an eccentric church member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber, the man lathered up a customer for a shave, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, “Are you prepared to meet your God?”
The frightened customer bolted out the door with lather on his face!
People often ask the question, “What’s the right balance between Christian zeal and wisdom?” But if you think about it, that’s really the wrong question to ask because it makes it seem like zeal and wisdom are in opposition to one another. A better question, then, is, “How do you have wisdom along with zeal?”
Some people are like that eccentric church member… all zeal and no wisdom. Yet there others who put aside zeal in order to be “reasonable” and “prudent.” But in every situation, God wants us to take our cue from Him. So when confronted with how to have wisdom along with your Christian zeal, seek God. Pray and look to His Word for guidance. When you do, He’ll show you the right path and use your zeal and wisdom in amazing ways!
Prayer Challenge
Pray and ask God to give you wisdom and zeal when it comes to making Him known!
Questions for Thought
Can you think of a time in your life when you had wisdom without zeal or zeal without wisdom? If you could go back and do things differently, what would you change?
As you look at your life today, do you think you need to work more on having greater wisdom or greater zeal? What can you do to increase one or the other?
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