The Beginning of Wisdom

Written by Suzanne Benner

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”(Proverbs 1:7)

Beyond the connection between fearing God and righteous living, the Bible presents a tight link between the fear of the Lord and wisdom.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding.” (Psalm 111:10)

“The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28)

“A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil.” (Proverbs 14:16)

“The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom.” (Proverbs 15:33)

Once we’ve accepted that we need to fear the Lord, we pursue the path of wisdom. At the same time, seeking wisdom helps us understand what it means to fear God.

Develop the Love

"And what this love consists in is this, that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching. This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love guided by it and following it." (2 John 1:6, The Amplified Bible)

Quite simply, God says love is keeping His commandments. That brings love out of the indefinite into something explicit. But God has done more than define love for you. He's given you instructions so that you can know how to love as He loves. By giving you His Word, God has given you His love manual in black and white. All you have to do is follow it and you'll be walking in love.

If you've made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, you've already taken the first step of obedience. The love of God has been born within you. But, unless you take steps to develop it, that love will remain hidden within you. Love works in much the same way as the force of faith. Like faith, love becomes active through knowledge of the Word.