Help Your Child Discover the Secret Formula for Wisdom

God’s wisdom is available to all of us, young or old. Share this post with your kids and encourage them to seek God as the ultimate source of knowledge and understanding.

What do you think of when you hear the word “wisdom”? We tend to think of people being wise only if they’re really old or have done a ton of schooling. But wisdom is actually available to all of us.

The Bible tells us what wisdom is. We are wise when we accurately apply God’s Word to the situations we deal with in life. Everything we need to know to live a life of wisdom can be found in the pages of the Bible.

If someone told you there was a secret formula for getting straight A’s in school, would you want to know what it was? Of course you would!

God has given us a secret formula for getting wisdom. Are you ready for it?

Knowledge + Understanding = Wisdom

Knowledge

Have you ever been talking to someone when suddenly, halfway through the conversation, you get some new information that totally changes the way you think about what’s going on? Maybe a friend is telling you a story about something that happened, and once you get the new information, you are able to understand what happened in a new way. Or the reason someone did something or said something totally makes sense now. It’s like viewing a picture that suddenly comes into focus. “Oh, I get it!” you say. “Now that makes sense!”

When you don’t know exactly what is going on—when you don’t have the knowledge—you don’t have wisdom. Without knowledge, you don’t completely get what is going on. And if you don’t get what is going on, you might be tempted to think or say or do the wrong thing.

God tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). That’s why you need to get all the information you can before you make a decision or respond to a situation. And you get that information from God’s truth.

Have you ever just known that something is true or that someone is right? That’s the kind of knowledge we’re talking about here. You can count on it. It’s been proven to be true. There’s no room for doubt. When you start with God, you can be sure that your information is accurate. You can be certain that you have knowledge.

Understanding

The second part of the secret formula for wisdom is understanding. Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.” Knowledge has to do with information, but understanding has to do with the meaning of the information. When you are able to combine knowledge and understanding together, you end up with wisdom.

Think back to the conversation with your friend. The story your friend told you was a little bit confusing before you got more information—the knowledge. But you can only understand the story if you know stuff about your friend and the situation and maybe the other people involved. And to understand something, you have to want to understand it. You have to make an effort.

One more thing: Wisdom is more than being smart. You can get straight A’s and still act foolishly. Wisdom is being able to actually use God’s words of truth when you’re with your friends or family, in school or at your activities—wherever you find yourself in life. Wisdom is making the best choice, the one that will bring about the best result for everyone involved. Wisdom is doing what Jesus would want you to do.