Wisdom From Above is… Willing to Yield

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield…” (James 3:17 NKJV)

    Willing to yield means to be ready to obey, willing to yield your former thoughts and beliefs for the truth that is set before you. Willing to yield your pride, your notions; your own self (Romans 12:1-2), to obey the true and proper way.

    In using wisdom from above you will be able to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:14); you will abhor what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9).

Examples of people who were willing to yield:

Jesus (Matthew 26:39, 42, Mark 14:36, 39, Luke 22:42) “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Your will be done.” (Luke 22:42) “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work that You have given Me to do.” (John 17:4)

3000+ men and women (Acts 2) “Now when they heard this, they were cut to their heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized for the remission of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. …Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day three thousand souls were added to them. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (37-38, 41, 47b)

Saul of Tarsus/Paul (Acts 9:1-22, 22:4-21, 26:4-20) Saul lived as a Pharisee (the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, Acts 26:3-5) and thought that he must do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 26:9), including shutting up many of the saints in prison (being given authority to do so by the chief priests), casting his vote against them when their very lives hung in the balance; he punished them and forced them to deny Jesus, and even tracked them down in foreign cities to persecute them (Acts 26:10-11). While Saul was in pursuit of Christians in Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul and spoke to Him, and he “was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) – he was willing to yield – and went to Damascus, waited for Ananias to come and put his hands on him (Acts 9:11-12, 17-18), and when that happened “he arose and was baptized” (Acts 9:18).  

Philippian Jailor (Acts 16:25-34) A Roman “keeper of the prison” seeing the situation he awoke to, heard Paul’s words when he called to him through the darkness from the inner prison: “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Realizing that there must be something more, something different about Paul and Silas, he asked for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before them, then he brought them out of the inner prison and asked them, “Sirs, what I do to be saved?” They “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.” The Philippian jailor, a Roman citizen and employee of the state, was willing to yield and ready to obey the word of the Lord, and being fully convinced, that same hour of the night, he did works befitting repentance when he “washed their stripes,” (v33, Acts 26:20) and immediately he and all his family were baptized. And “[the jailor] rejoiced having believed in God with all his household.” (v34).

Apollos (Acts 18:24-28) Apollos was “an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures” He had been taught the way of the Lord, and spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, but he knew only the baptism of John (John had prepared the people for Jesus, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, Luke 3:1-6).  When Aquila and Priscilla heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, “they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately.”  Apollos was willing to yield to this more accurate knowledge and being fully convinced of it, he continued on to Achaia and “greatly helped those who had believed through grace (the Gentiles); for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly; showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”

Eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts 8:26-39), Cornelius (Acts 10), Lydia (Acts 16:11-15, 40), you, and me We all heard the same gospel message, and we all reached a point of understanding and conviction that we – in wisdom – were willing to yield. We were willing to submit to God and His way, and from that day forward we have pursued His righteousness (Matthew 6:33, 2 Timothy 2:22), and worked to remove bad habits, thoughts, and conduct, and replace them with good works (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 3:1, 8, 14), good thoughts (Philippians 4:8), and good conduct (1 Timothy 2:1-4, 4:12-13, Romans 12:1-2, 9-21, 1 Peter 3:1-4).

Examples of those who were not willing to yield:

Jesus’ own countrymen (Matthew 13:53-58) “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? ...so they were offended at Him.”

Young man with great possessions (Matthew 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22) “But when he heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Those who listened to Stephen’s sermon (Acts 6:8-7:60) “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth… and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.”

Felix, the Governor (Acts 24:22-25) “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” (he never did)

    This is an area where we can clearly assess whether someone’s wisdom is earthly or if it is from above – when we observe their willingness to yield to God and His way:  Do they say they love God but hold to their own thoughts and notions, like those described in Romans 10:2-3? Do they, by their words and example, help you draw nearer to God and encourage you toward better service? Do they seek out and share man’s advice more than God’s instruction? Do they ignore or disregard certain commands and instructions because they don’t want to give up parts of their conduct/lifestyle?

    We can ascertain where our wisdom is sourced by asking ourselves these same questions: Do I hold to my own notions and expect God to be pleased? Do I, through my words and example, help others draw nearer to God and encourage them toward better service? Do I seek out and share man’s advice more than God’s instruction? Do I ignore or disregard certain commands and instructions in the Bible because I don’t want to give up parts of my conduct/lifestyle?

    You were willing to yield when you heard the gospel message and responded to it. You were willing to yield when you submitted to baptism for the remission of your sins and rose to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Every time you choose God over self you are showing yourself wise in your willingness to yield, in your willingness to present your body a living sacrifice, in your willingness to choose holiness and acceptability to God over selfish, carnal desires, and in your willingness to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2)! Keep going, keep growing; keep flourishing in wisdom from above by learning and obeying God’s word and by continuing to prove to yourself – and to others around you – that all of God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect!

You can do it! So can I!!