Counted among the foolish or wise?

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish plotting. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. (James 3:13-16)

There aren't too many of us who want to be counted among the foolish. We all likely want someone to take notice of us for our wise choices, not the foolish ones..Building a reputation for wisdom isn't always easy, though. People spend a great deal of time critiquing our actions, don't they? Live well, making good decisions and you get praise, but it may not last long. Make unwise choices and your reputation is marred for a lot longer than you'd like.

The one who desires to make wise choices does more than talk them through - they follow through with action. We all know individuals who make choices spontaneously and come to regret them, don't we? Wise choices are planned far in advance of us even being presented with the choice. The one who prepares for the moment is the one who likely does better with the choice, but how can we prepare in advance for the choices we don't even know are needing to be made?

We prepare by learning our natural tendencies and listening to what God teaches us about those tendencies. Some will be good and we can pursue them. Others will be moving us into actions that will not bring honor to God and will ultimately damage our reputation. Those are the ones we need his help with. How does he help? He gives us a plan to resist certain traps that take us down wrong paths. We can actually learn how to resist those tendencies by studying his Word, listening to his voice, and paying attention to his Spirit within.

Take note of where and when you encounter temptation in your life and you can learn how to resist those foolish actions. The first step to avoiding foolish actions is to understand those things that trigger them. It could be fatigue. Perhaps it is loneliness or boredom. It might even be when we seem to be on top of the world and feeling good about things. The pull toward foolishness isn't always when we are doing stuff we shouldn't. It sometimes comes when we are doing exactly what we should! Pride can get us at any time! Just saying.