“A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

A wise man will always show restraint in expressing his views, but he will also be quick and attentive to listen.

But a fool or a mocker is the exact opposite. A fool will always open his mouth to speak without even understanding what he is talking about.

These are some of the distinct character traits in both the wise man and the fool from the scriptures.

We can see some of these character traits of the fool in the three friends of Job, who had come to comfort him in his sufferings.

In all that they said to Job in passing judgment on him, he was very careful to open his mouth in answering them back.

The scriptures says that Job never sinned with his mouth in response to them. He did not allow his feelings to overrule his mouth (Job 1:22; 42:7).

It is something appalling to see many people in our world today, who are always overacting to social issues. Their reactions are often based on their feelings and not on what God’s word says about the situation in front of them.

In many instances I have seen that such reactions are based on their ignorance of what the scriptures teaches about the issues, even though they profess to be Christians.

A man of wisdom is able to tame his tongue and bring it into submission to the will of God.

The tongue is the smallest part of the human body, and everything that comes out of it affects our lives, and the lives of those who hear us.

But was Job able to tame his tongue? The evidence from the scriptures showed that he never sinned, while responding to the foolishness of his friends.

There are many whose responses to the issues of life are like that of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar to the sufferings of Job.

How was Job able to tame his tongue in the midst of his trials, without the written word of God being available to him during his time, as we have it in our world today?

Job had a personal relationship with God. He communicates regularly with God about the issues of his life and the world around him.

Job had learnt to tame his tongue by not being quick to speak before God. He had learnt to apply this same principle in his dealings with God to the people around him also.

Secondly, Job had the promises of God to him personally. He had disciplined himself for life with these promises of God. He had learned to hold on to God’s promises by faith.

He once said:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth.
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!”
Job 19:25-27 NKJV

It takes faith in God to be able to apply godly wisdom in a corrupt and evil world.

Job was a wise man because he had faith in God’s promises. He knew that none of God’s promises had never failed to come to pass.

Job had tamed his tongue not to be quick to speak, as he developed a personal relationship with his God. He was able to hold back his mouth from saying foolish things before God, until God showed up on his behalf.

Job learnt how to listen for the whispers of God into his heart, before speaking to his world. He said based on his relationship with God about His ways:

“Yet these are but [a small part of His doings] the outskirts of His ways or the mere fringes of His force, the faintest whisper of His voice! Who dares contemplate or who can understand the thunders of His full, magnificent power?”
Job 26:14 AMPC

A fool will always cause his mouth to declare the works of the evil one, because his mouth is governed by his feelings and what he sees going on around him.

Job was triumphant in his trials because he was abiding on the spiritual law that had governed his life, until it affected the physical law around him so as to change it. He lived by this spiritual law till the end of his life.

This is what a wise man does always.

But a fool will often make decisions of life based on popular opinions of the world around him and not based on what is righteous and just in the sight of God.

This was what Rehoboam (the son of Solomon) had done.

Foolishness in the heart of a fool.

Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon should had known better, when his people inquired from him about how he would reign over them as King.

He acted in foolishness by consulting with his friends, instead of the advisers of his father, who knew the ways of God. He fell into deception by following the advice of his friends, to make mockery of his own people.

The scripture says:

“Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”

‭‭I Kings‬ 12: 13-14 ‭NKJV‬‬

Rehoboam spoke the mind of his friends in answering his people. And he did it in a rough and harsh manner. He lost the loyalty of his people, because of the foolishness of his heart.

The people therefore responded to his mockery. The scripture says:

“Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: “What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!” So, Israel departed to their tents.”

‭‭I Kings‬ 12:16 ‭NKJV‬‬

This is how foolishness in the heart of a man or a woman ruins their homes, because they are listening to evil and deceptive friends.

They can’t administer godly justice over their personal lives, homes and even their businesses. Everything that they touch crumbles.

Wise men still seek God.

King Solomon (his father) on the other hand was different. He knew that he needed God to help him to reign over the Israelites. He had just built the Temple of God and was dedicating it when he had a supernatural encounter with the Holy One.

He knew that he had fulfilled his heart’s desires before God by building the Temple. Solomon sought to please God first in his personal life, before applying the same principle to reign as King over Israel.

By seeking to please God first, he did exactly what Jesus commanded every Christian today to be doing also, so as to walk in the wisdom of God.

Jesus said:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Solomon sought the Kingdom of God first and His righteousness. He did this by doing all things to build the Temple for God – where God’s people could gather together for worship.

Jesus said to us about the Kingdom of God:

“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, see here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 17:20-21 NKJV

We do know through the revelation of Jesus Christ here, that the kingdom of God is within each and every child of God. He reigns within your heart, as you are yielding to obey His word. God’s Kingdom is not physical; but spiritually tangible.

In the Old Testament theology, the Kingdom of God was often confused with something physical or even political. That was not the Kingdom which Jesus came to establish on the earth.

The Kingdom of God is spiritual, and spiritual things can only be caught and not just taught. Our spiritual eye of understanding has to be opened by the Holy Spirit, so that we can catch it spiritually.

Some people in today’s world would rather seek the things of this world first, so as to fulfill the lust of their flesh, before they even begin to think about the Kingdom of God in their personal lives.

You cannot be seeking the physical and material things of this world that your heart desires, while ignoring the prosperity of the Kingdom of God in your personal life.

Your spiritual life has to be fruitful and prosperous first of all. It is your spiritual prosperity, that causes the Lord God to bless you with physical and material things.

A lack of the understanding of this spiritual principle, is why certain Christians has backslidden from following Jesus. In the foolishness of their hearts for worldly pursuits, they have fallen short of the grace of God.

The Apostle John wrote:

“Dear friend, I am praying that everything prospers with you and that you be in good health, as I know you are prospering spiritually”.
3 John 1:2 CJB

You can’t prosper in every good thing of life, if you are not spiritually prosperous.

When people complain about their prayers not being answered, it is important to always remind them about these words of Jesus – “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”.

Are they seeking to glorify God with the desires of their hearts? Or were they just praying to fulfill the lust of their flesh?

The wisdom of God tells us to seek His insight and understanding, concerning those prayer needs first of all. It says:

“The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the beginning and the preeminent part of wisdom [its starting point and its essence],
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding and spiritual insight”.
Proverbs 9:10 AMP

King Solomon at that first moment of his personal intimacy with God; after he had sought the insight and understanding of the Holy One was asked what he wanted from the Lord.

You may be wondering why God has never asked you for what you want, just as He had asked King Solomon?

The answer to that is simple. Have you ever worshipped God intimately as King Solomon did? Have you ever given up the very best in you so as to praise and worship God?

You see, when we offer our lives as a living sacrifice before God, we are opening up ourselves for His wisdom to be imparted into our lives (Romans 12:1-2).

King Solomon had offered uncountable sacrifices to the Lord, that had actually moved the heart of God to favor him (1 Kings 8:5).

God will always respond to those who are diligent in seeking Him (Hebrews 11:6).

In response to the question from God, Solomon never asked for wealth or the heads of his enemies. He asked for the wisdom to carry the responsibility, which the Lord God had placed on him as the King of Israel.

To which the Lord God had responded:

“… “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭3:11-12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Administering justice with discernment.

God described wisdom here to King Solomon as the “discernment in administering justice”.

Justice is the ability to be able to do the right thing in the reverential fear of God, even when evil confronts us.

Being able to administer justice is what separates the good in us from the evil of this world. Justice is the ability to act in righteousness. This is what enables us as Christians to walk in wisdom at all times.

We do not walk in wisdom by following the advice of friends. As Christians we do walk in wisdom by following the insight and understanding of the Holy God, based on our personal relationship with Him with the discernment to administer justice.

Basically, having a discerning heart is wisdom. A discerning heart helps us in isolating what is evil from what is good.

Unfortunately, not everyone has a discerning heart to administer justice. A fool for example does not have a discerning heart, that is why he will always walk in the foolishness of his heart instead of getting the knowledge of the insight and understanding of God.

We do know that every good thing is from God, because everything that He created has always been good from the very beginning of creation.

Philosophies of men or social values are not the determining factors of what is good, especially if they are not based on the knowledge of the insight and understanding of the Creator.

It is the stupidity in humanity, that makes people to go into endless and fruitless discussions or arguments, about good and evil in any society.

The Bible made it plain and simple – God is good and the Devil is evil:

“Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.”
Psalms 52:1 NKJV

The New Living Translation says:

“Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?
Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?”

Psalms 52:1 NLT

In other words, godly justice can only be administered in the goodness of God.

By seeking after the Kingdom of God, we are able to discover what is good. By discovering what is good, we are empowered to tap into the goodness of God, from whom all good things come (James 1:17).

By seeking after the works of the Devil in his kingdom here on earth, wicked people will always discover what is evil. That’s why their wicked works follows after them (James 3:16).

Discerning what is good and what is evil is not complicated at all.

But the scripture advised us about administering justice on the wicked that:

“Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil”.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 NKJV

When Christians are slow to administer justice on the evil works of the Devil around them, wickedness will increase more and more around them, until it brings total and complete destruction with it, because that’s the ultimate goal of the Devil (John 10:10).

That’s why you need the word of God in your heart at all times, to be able to separate the evil around you from the good that’s in your world. It will help you to administer justice very swiftly, to the extent that everyone will begin to see God working through you.

God wants to administer justice on the wicked, but He needs your voice to utter His judgement on the wicked and their works. God’s word in your heart empowers you to do this effectively. And His word in your heart and on your lips is always there to guide you into His wisdom.

Christian virtues for discernment.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 listed the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. He wrote:

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues”.
1 Corinthians 12:7-10 NKJV

These are the supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit.

We do not need to do anything to get them, except to have a burning desire for them in our heart. Each gift is distributed as the Holy Spirit deem fit for each one of us.

But as believers in Christ Jesus, we can also grow in the ability to function with them not necessarily as a gift, but as part of our Christian virtues. We can do this by training our spirit man in the word of God, to manifest them as virtues of our Christian character.

Of all the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit listed by Paul, speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues are the only spiritual gifts that are unique with the Church today. The other seven gifts are common in the Old Testament.

Discernment of spirits as an example is a gift of the Holy Spirit, but it is different from the discernment that we do have as a Christian virtue.

In like manner the word of wisdom is also a gift of the Holy Spirit, but we must be careful not to confuse it with the wisdom of God, which we receive through our training in the things of God through His written word.

Faith can also be a gift of the Holy Spirit, just as faith comes by hearing the word of God also.

Therefore, faith is a fruit of the Spirit, just as it can also be a gift of the Spirit. Living a lifestyle of faith is a Christian virtue of our character as God’s children. We must be very careful to differentiate each one of these aspects of faith.

The word of wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit, just as the wisdom of God comes through the knowledge of the insight and understanding of the Holy One.

We must be able to differentiate what is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, from what comes into our lives through the development of a personal relationship with God through His written word.

And just like any other Christian virtue, discernment in administering justice in the evil world of today, comes to us only when we are living by the standard of the word of God.

This was what was imparted to Solomon by God, when he asked Him for the wisdom to be able to administer justice to his people as their King.

King Solomon never received the discernment in administering justice as a gift of the Holy Spirit, but as a virtue of his character in following God.

But the gift of the discernment of spirits is given to us by the Holy Spirit. It is spiritual and can only operate in our lives when we are in the spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 above).

It is therefore different from the discernment that we get through the application of the word of God practically into our lives by living in obedience to what is written in it.

In the case of King Solomon’s ability to discern so as to administer justice, we must understand that he was not filled with the Holy Spirit as believers get filled with the Holy Spirit today.

But the anointing from the Holy Spirit was upon his life to function in the office that God had placed him in as King over the nation of Israel (see Romans 13:1-7).

Discernment in administering justice was imputed to him, therefore through the anointing over his life as the King of Israel. It was not a gift of the Holy Spirit in his life.

Every head of any nation has that anointing or calling of God over their lives. That is why as believers we are called to honor and respect that anointing always over the head of any nation on earth today (Proverbs 21:1).

God is the One who placed them in that anointed position of power. They all will stand before Him on the day of judgement, to answer before Him about how they functioned in that anointing.

Get wisdom by praying in the Spirit.

We are able to get in the spirit through prayer and intercession or through praise and worship.

Paul wrote:

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭14:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The discernment which comes into our spirit man as we do this is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells us about Stephen after he became one of the seven deacons in the early Church. It says:

“And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭6:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It is only a man who is committed to praying in the Holy Spirit, meditating on the word of God and fellowshipping with the Lord, who can exhibit these character traits in Stephen.

He did “great wonders and signs among the people”.

Evidently Stephen was full of faith and power, because of his devotion to the word of God and prayer. He was a man who was devoted to praying in other tongues.

This explained why God’s power was upon him to do what he did among the people.

The consequences of this type of lifestyle for Stephen were that his speeches were so anointed that no one could withstand him.

The scripture went further by saying that:

“And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭6:10‬ ‭NKJV‬

The wisdom of God was so powerful in his ministry that no one could withstand him at all as he spoke.

When we are devoted to praying in the Spirit, we are praying in the wisdom of God and for the wisdom of God. The more we are praying in other tongues; the more God’s wisdom keeps coming to our spirit man.

We will become more effective in praying God’s perfect will when we are praying in such manner. God will fill us up with His goodness.

His goodness in us is what manifests His wisdom within us. We do not need to do anything to have access into His goodness. We just need to be praying more in the spirit, until we become saturated with His goodness.

This was the type of lifestyle that Stephen was devoted to – a lifestyle of the word of God and prayer in the Holy Spirit. He became so full of faith and the power of God; to the extent that no one could withstand the wisdom of God that was being manifested in his life.

Praying in other tongues is praying in the wisdom of God. God knows what we needed to be praying for. And the Holy Spirit will always lead us to be praying in this way:

“Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”.
Romans 8:26-27 NKJV

When we are praying like this, then we are in the spirit. This opens us up into many potentials for God’s wisdom.

Paul also said we should be:

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Our ability to pray in the spirit comes with supplication in the Holy Spirit.

We are living in a sensual world as Christians. We do need the wisdom of God and His discernment to administer justice among the people of this world.

You must really be yielded to the Holy Spirit, so that He can lead you in prayer.

In most cases we do not know “all saints” on the earth; but we are supposed to be praying for them.

In reality the Holy Spirit does know “all saints” in this world, and He alone can guide you in being effective as you are praying for them.

Begin to let your prayer life as a believer in Christ Jesus affect “all saints” around the world.

God by His Spirit is leading you to affect the lives of the people in unknown places to you. He is bringing the desire of the nations to your heart, as you are praying in the spirit and by the Spirit.

You will be glad that you are doing this to change your world. He had said:

“Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession”.
Psalms 2:8 NKJV