The Beginning of Wisdom

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.” Psalm 111:10

Wisdom. How much we need wisdom in this life! As wives, mothers, homeschool teachers, we need wisdom to get through this life loving well and making the best decisions. So how do we get wisdom?

This verse tells us that wisdom begins by fearing the Lord. What does that mean? To fear the Lord means to revere Him and give Him the honor and glory He deserves. We show fear of the Lord by following His ways. As this verse says, “all who follow His precepts have good understanding.” When we follow God’s ways and God’s call for us we’re showing fear, reverence for Him.

How do we know what God’s precepts are? By reading His word and knowing it. We can hide God’s word in our hearts so that we know what God’s ways are (Psalm 119:11). Beyond this, because of Jesus, we can ask God directly! James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

By God’s grace, because of Jesus death on the cross for us and the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can now have God’s wisdom poured into and flowing out of us! This does not mean we will do things perfectly, but it does mean that we can follow God without fear as we seek to follow His ways. And when we fear the Lord we can follow Him without fear of man and what they will say. God calls us to the life He has for us and that is the life we are to seek.

So begin with Jesus who followed God’s ways perfectly and teaches us to fear God and follow His ways. Put your trust in Him alone and grow in wisdom as you follow Him.