Recently I was taking books out of storage and arranging them in my bookshelf.
I read the titles and ordered them by topic, only to remember how many books on specific topics I own.
It dawned on me that we can acquire great knowledge and yet have limited benefit from it.
It takes wisdom to truly benefit from the knowledge.
In healing school, I was surrounded by healing technicians and attendees who read books, listened to audios, and continually studied the topic of healing. Yet the knowledge was not enough to see people healed or receive healing personally.
Without the understanding of how to apply the knowledge, the desired outcome remained elusive.
In one experience in the healing room, my healing tech leader was trying to help the attendee. He seemed to come to the end of his understanding. He asked if anyone else had anything, I motioned. Then I shared what I heard in my heart to share with the attendee. We saw an incredible change within moments. After the attendee left the healing room, my leader turned to me and basically said, “You’ve got the gift, and I don’t”. To this day I believe it had little to do with a gift, and more to do with wisdom in how to properly apply knowledge and scriptural principle. (hear/obey)
Proverbs 4:7 (NLT) Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.
Ecclesiastes 7:12 (NLT) Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.
Below is a quote from www.gotquestions.org
“Knowledge is what is gathered over time through study of the Scriptures. It can be said that wisdom, in turn, acts properly upon that knowledge. Wisdom is the fitting application of knowledge. Knowledge understands the light has turned red; wisdom applies the brakes. Knowledge sees the quicksand; wisdom walks around it. Knowledge memorizes the Ten Commandments; wisdom obeys them. Knowledge learns of God; wisdom loves Him.”
If we don’t understand how to properly apply the knowledge we have received, then we are unable to be changed by it. In the book of James it is like a forgetful hearer, versus a doer of the word. The forgetful hearer deceives himself and doesn’t see change. We can continue to run after more knowledge, or start seeking the proper application of what we already know or are presently learning.
The books that changed my life the most, were the books that I regularly applied. A sentence read and properly applied, is greater than the book read and forgotten.
The more I applied what I knew and learned from the experience of application, the more I grew in wisdom, and the more my life benefited.