Wisdom

Today I would like to speak about wisdom. I think this stems from a recent reading of James 1:5 where it states:“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.”
What is wisdom exactly? Well, according to the dictionary: “the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.” I think that is very interesting. By this definition, it is possible to have wisdom in many different areas, but not all are good. I like that it includes “good judgment” as part of the definition.
Today while speaking with my mom, she talked about being wise.  This reminded me of Jacob’s exhortation in Jacob 4:12- “O be wise, what can I say more?” I believe that being wise and having wisdom are interrelated. And I believe that exercising wisdom can lead a person to become more wise because experience is an element of gaining wisdom.
Joseph Smith spoke to his mother after his experience in the sacred grove. When asked by his mother what the matter was, he replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off…I have learned for myself…” (Joseph Smith—History 1: 20). That is a pattern for learning and gaining wisdom. Joseph had a question; he studied it, talked with others about it, and then sought answers to that question. In the course of his search, he came across that verse in James which I have quoted previously, “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.” God is the greatest source of wisdom. It therefore makes sense to seek His help in finding the wisdom we lack.
 In Moses 1:39 we read: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” God wants what is best for us. He wants for us to return to live with Him, but even more than this, is His desire for us to want to live with Him. Elder Renlund said: “Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him.” I know that Heavenly Father loves all of us as His children. He gives us the opportunity to be here on the earth and to make decisions. It is our opportunity to learn from those experiences and thereby, gain wisdom and become more wise.
Heavenly Father is helping us every step of the way. It is because of His son Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice that we can become more wise. Elder Lynn G. Robbins said: “Our success, then, isn’t going from failure to failure, but growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.” I believe that because of Jesus Christ, we can grow from failure to failure and become what the Lord wants us to become. He loves us very much and I know He is pulling with us and helping us as we seek to gain wisdom and become wise.