The word of wisdom: the gift of knowing what to do

There are moments when knowing doctrine is not enough. You are facing a decision that cannot wait, a conflict that could break a family, a person in pain who asks you what to do. You know many things, but you do not know which is the right one now. For such moments a gift exists. It is the first one the apostle Paul names:

“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 12:8

This article is the first in the series The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. We will look at what the word of wisdom is, how it differs from the wisdom we should all ask for, where it appears in the Bible, how it is recognised, what its dangers are and how it is sought. At the end there is a prayer.

What the word of wisdom is

Paul does not say that someone is given “wisdom,” as though that person became wise for ever and in everything. He says “the word of wisdom”: a word, an utterance. It is a portion of God’s wisdom given by the Spirit for a specific moment and need. The one who receives it knows, suddenly and without having worked it out, what to say or what to do; and is often surprised by what they have said.

A simple way to distinguish it from the next gift on the list: knowledge says what is going on; wisdom says what to do about it. One can understand a problem very well and have no idea how to get out of it. The word of wisdom opens the way.

The wisdom we can all ask for, and the gift

The Bible speaks of a wisdom that is for every believer and may be asked for without fear:

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

James 1:5

That wisdom grows with the years, with Scripture, with the fear of God—“the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10)—with hard knocks and with the counsel of others. The gift spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12 neither replaces it nor competes with it. It is a particular grace the Spirit gives “as he will,” sometimes to the least likely person, to build up the community. But it tends to rest more readily on those who cultivate the first: the Spirit speaks more freely in a heart full of the Word and accustomed to listening.

God’s wisdom has a face

Before looking at the examples, we must look at a person. For Paul, the wisdom of God is not an idea: it is “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). And that wisdom was shown where no one would have looked for it: on a cross, which to the world seems foolishness. That is why the word of wisdom is never cunning, nor skill in winning an argument, nor calculation for one’s own advantage. It resembles Jesus. James paints its portrait:

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

James 3:17

In the Old Testament

Joseph before Pharaoh. Joseph did not only explain the dream of the cows and the ears of grain; he proposed what to do: store a fifth in the good years. Pharaoh recognised where it came from: “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?… there is none so discreet and wise as thou art” (Genesis 41:38-39). A word of wisdom saved whole peoples from famine.

Solomon and the two mothers. He had asked for “an understanding heart to judge,” and one day an impossible case was brought to him: two women, one living child, no witnesses. The order to divide the child was not cruelty, but the exact word that brought the true mother’s heart to light. “All Israel… feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (1 Kings 3:28).

Abigail. David was coming down with four hundred men, determined to kill. A woman went out to meet him on the road, and with a few humble, well-aimed words stopped him. David acknowledged it: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice” (1 Samuel 25:32-33).

Daniel, who was asked for what no wise man could give, and who before speaking blessed God: “wisdom and might are his… he giveth wisdom unto the wise” (Daniel 2:20-21). Read Joseph, Solomon and Daniel.

In Jesus

Already as a boy, in the temple, “all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luke 2:47). As an adult he was set traps designed to have no way out. Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar? If he said yes, he lost the people; if he said no, he would be denounced to Rome. He asked for a coin, and said: “Render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way” (Matthew 22:21-22).

Another time they brought him a woman caught in adultery. The Law commanded stoning; mercy asked for her release; either answer would condemn him. He stooped, wrote on the ground, and said a single sentence: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). That word saved a life, disarmed the accusers without humiliating them and left the woman face to face with grace. That is a word of wisdom.

In the Church

Jesus promised this gift to his own for the difficult hours:

“For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.”

Luke 21:15

And it was fulfilled. Of Stephen the text says that his adversaries “were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake” (Acts 6:10). When the church in Jerusalem was on the verge of dividing over the distribution to the widows, the solution of choosing seven men “full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” solved the problem, and the Word went on increasing (Acts 6:3-7).

The greatest example is the council of Jerusalem. The question—whether Gentiles had to become Jews in order to be Christians—could have split the Church in two. There was long debate; they listened to the testimonies; they searched the Scriptures; and James proposed a way forward that kept both the truth of the Gospel and fellowship among the brethren. The final letter puts it admirably: “it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us” (Acts 15:28). The word of wisdom does not always come to one person alone in an instant: sometimes the Spirit gives it to a community that prays, listens and discerns together.

How it shows itself today

It is hardly ever spectacular. It is usually a simple sentence which, said at the right moment, changes the course of a conversation or of a life. “A word spoken in due season, how good is it!” (Proverbs 15:23). It may be given:

• In counsel to someone who can see no way out, when suddenly the question or observation lights up that opens a path for them.
• In a conflict within a couple, a family or a church, when someone finds the proposal that does justice to both sides.
• In a leadership decision, when the right way is none of those that were on the table.
• Before a difficult or ill-intentioned question about the faith.
• In bringing up children, when a father or mother suddenly knows what that child needs at that moment.
• Beside the sick or the dying, when one must know what to say and, above all, what to leave unsaid.

Those who have received it usually describe it like this: “I had not thought of it; it came out, and I knew it was not mine.”

How to recognise it

The text of James is the best test. The wisdom from above is pure: it hides no interest. Peaceable: it seeks to reconcile, not to win. Gentle and easy to be intreated: it does not crush. Full of mercy and good fruits: after hearing it, things go better. Without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

James also describes the counterfeit: “if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts… this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:14-15). A brilliant “word” that leaves division, humiliation or pride behind it does not come from the Spirit, however shrewd it may seem. And, like every gift, it never contradicts Scripture.

Dangers

Confusing one’s own opinion with the voice of God. Not everything that occurs to us forcefully is from the Spirit. “Be not wise in thine own eyes” (Proverbs 3:7).

Speaking before listening. “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Proverbs 18:13). The word of wisdom almost always comes after much listening.

Giving advice no one asked for and directing other people’s lives. The gift offers light; it does not make decisions for others.

Despising ordinary means. Study, experience and the counsel of several people are still God’s ways: “in the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).

Pride. Solomon received wisdom like no one else and ended with a divided heart. The gift does not protect anyone who stops fearing God.

How to ask for it and grow in it

1. Ask, and ask in the moment. Nehemiah, faced with the king’s question, tells us: “So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king…” (Nehemiah 2:4-5). Between the question and the answer there was room for a one-second prayer.
2. Fill yourself with Scripture. Paul prayed that believers “might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9).
3. Be “swift to hear, slow to speak” (James 1:19).
4. Dare to say “I do not know.” When there is no word, the wise thing is to be silent and pray.
5. Speak the word humbly and leave the other person free to test it.
6. Look at the fruit. In time it becomes clear whether what was said brought peace and good.

Frequently asked questions

How does it differ from the word of knowledge? The word of knowledge makes something known; the word of wisdom shows what to do. They often go together.

Is it the same as experience or common sense? No, though God makes use of those too. The gift may be given to someone young or uneducated, and it arrives as something received, not manufactured.

Is it only for pastors and leaders? No. Abigail held no office, and the Bible remembers an unnamed woman who saved a whole city “in her wisdom” (2 Samuel 20:22).

Can I ask for wisdom for my own decisions? Yes; it is one of the clearest promises in the Bible: “let him ask of God… and it shall be given him.”

Series “The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit”: Introduction · next: The word of knowledge.

Prayer

Lord, I often do not know what to do. I have people in front of me asking for an answer, decisions I cannot put off, and inside I have only doubts. I have said too much, I have given advice out of pride, I have kept silent when I should have spoken. Forgive me. You promised to give wisdom to those who ask, without reproach: I ask you for it. Come, Holy Spirit, Spirit of wisdom and of counsel. Teach me first to listen: to you and to the person in front of me. Put in my mouth the word in due season, and keep me from speaking it if it is not yours. Let my words be pure, peaceable, full of mercy; let them open paths and not wounds. Give me the wisdom of Jesus, who with a single sentence saved a woman and humiliated no one. And when I do not know, give me the humility to say so. Amen.