“For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2: 6 KJV).
Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom are the intellectual trinity. If a person possesses this trinity on any subject, they are fully educated on that subject.
An education on any subject must first begin with knowledge of the facts. Knowledge is “a clear and certain perception of that which exists, of truth and fact. We can have no knowledge of that which does not exist. What does not exist is not knowable. Knowledge is our intelligent comprehension of reality.”
Understanding comes next in our education. Understanding is “that faculty whereby we are enabled to apprehend the objects of knowledge. To discern and interpret the meaning of the truth and facts we know. To achieve a grasp of the nature, significance, or explanation of the facts of reality.
Wisdom completes our education. Wisdom is “the practical application, the power to choose rightly based on knowledge and understanding; discretion. Wisdom is what guides the application and puts to proper use what is known and understood.”
Our education is complete when we’ve come into possession of the facts and understand their importance and their significance and then wisely apply them to our daily life. In other words, when we’re living according to our knowledge and understanding of the truth and not according to our imagination. In this manner, because our life is based on reality, our life will be compatible with reality. But if we believe and live according to a lie, our lives will clash with reality.
The steps to a proper education are in this order; knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. If this order is changed, one will not receive a proper education. It’s impossible for a person to be truly wise about something they know nothing about nor understand. It’s important to get the facts right first and then go from there. All of this intellectual trinity must be grasped, or our education will not be complete.
A Christian education works the same way. Christians go to the Bible (KJV) to get their knowledge about God and reality. They then come to understand the significance of the facts that give their life meaning, and then by wisely applying their knowledge and understanding to their daily life, they find purpose in living. In this way, their life comes into perfect sync and compatibility with reality, and they are living fulfilled lives. It is in this way that they grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and become useful in God’s service and come to experience His fellowship.
Train Of Thought
I considered my thinking,
Of all the things that I thought,
That pulled out of my heart,
As I formed a train of thought.
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Those thoughts I think are my own;
Good or bad they are all mine.
I hold them or release them,
With the words that I design.
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Thoughts are formed from the substance,
That I take into my heart,
All of it is food for thought,
That I use in whole or part.
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Every thought is my own,
For I think for myself,
And no one does my speaking,
I speak my thoughts myself.
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No one sees my thoughts but God,
And He judges all of them.
To all others they’re private,
Till I share my thoughts with them.
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My thought life is my real life,
My thought life depicts me.
My thoughts decide how I live,
In defeat or victory.
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I can’t think like a devil,
And live like a holy man.
I can’t think like the old man,
And still live like a new man.
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My thoughts have moral value,
They have a life of their own.
They have pow’r to transform me,
And to make my life their own.
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Some thoughts I must repent of,
They can be so sinful to.
And I must put them away,
Lest wrong I’m led to do.
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My thinking must be holy,
If my life would stay on track.
My thoughts must stay on Jesus,
Still when I’m under attack.
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I should seek a train of thoughts,
Where every thought is pure,
Coupled one to another,
My holiness to insure.
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Christ like living only comes,
From a heart that thinks like Christ,
Whose words shapes the thought life,
To form a life like Christ.
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My thoughts are so important,
Much more so than I might think.
I take them seriously,
And am sincere when I think.
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I guard my eyes and my ears;
The way to my soul and thoughts.
For through these two gateways,
Comes the food that feeds my thoughts.
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What I let in will come out,
Through first a thought then a word,
Through some action or a deed,
That shames or honors my Lord.
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God made me so I could think,
But lets me think as I will.
But with thoughts captive to Christ,
My thoughts will honor His will.
James H. Cagle ©
