7 Pillars of Wisdom to Build Your Life Upon

A house must have a foundation, and we find ours in Proverbs 1:7. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” A life of wisdom begins by seeing God from the right perspective. To fear God is to have reverence for Him, acknowledging He has all power and authority. He makes the rules. He alone has the final say. He is the only source of true wisdom, as He is the source of our salvation. 

The apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus alone is where we will find the treasures of wisdom on which to build a life, when he prays for believers’ understanding, “resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3)

Wisdom has “hewn out” seven pillars in our house of wisdom. This implies that they are not built easily, but take work. These are not things which come naturally to us, but God will establish them in our lives as we grow in faith and wisdom.

To define our pillars, we are going to cross reference several passages in the New Testament. The book of James has often been called “the Proverbs of the New Testament” because of its emphasis on wisdom and its practical nature. James advises us to seek wisdom from God, who will give it to us generously (1:5).  We find, interestingly, seven descriptive terms of the wisdom that comes from God, which we can use to name our pillars. 

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

Let’s consider these pillars as the practical actions or way of life that we are pursuing. We’ll also look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 (the outward expression of wisdom), the beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 (the character traits of a wise person), and Peter’s list of qualities in 2 Peter 1:5-8 (the spiritual disciplines of the wise Christ-follower). 

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Pure is the Greek word hagnos, meaning “clean, chaste, innocent, pure from carnality, modest” and is a form of hagios, translated holy. Proverbs talks much about holiness, especially sexual purity. Solomon warns against the lure of adultery and the pitfalls of immorality. But purity is more than just avoiding sexual sin. The wise person avoids sin in all its forms, in thought, word and deed.

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The Spirit of God works in us to produce purity, and He does this through self-control. We resist fleshly desires and pursue purity because the Spirit is more powerful, and we have died to our sinful nature (Romans 8). Jesus described this character trait in the beatitudes when He said, “Blessed are those who mourn” (those who are repentant over their sin) and “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:4, 8). Peter describes this as moral excellence, the first in his list of spiritual disciplines.

2 Peter 1:5-8 – “Now for this very reason, also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Peace is the absence of conflict and hostility. It means to be in harmony, or at rest. To be peaceable is to pursue peace in our relationships as a result of the peace we have experienced in salvation. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Jesus died to bring reconciliation and peace between all men and God (Ephesians 2:15-17). 

In Peter’s list of spiritual disciplines, we can connect love to this pillar of peace. After saying “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), Jesus tells us what that looks like in practical wisdom. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

Peace comes when we love our enemies. Peace, at its core, is a cessation of war. The wise man chooses to love, and peace is the outcome.

Pillar 3 – Gentleness

Gentle is epieikēs; it means seemly, fitting, fair, and equitable. It expresses forbearance and indicates a willingness to not insist on the letter of the law, but to look humanely and reasonably at the facts of a case. Gentleness is also a fruit of the Spirit, but translates the word, chrēstotēs, in Galatians 5:22. This word describes kindness towards others, as goodness in action. It means treating others not in indignation against sin, but in grace, tenderness, and compassion.

Jesus brought our attention to this character trait as well: “Blessed are the gentle” (Matthew 5:5). Peter does not mention gentleness, but he does include self-control. Why do we need self-control to be a gentle person? Paul gives us a perfect example in 2 Timothy 2:23-26, where he tells us to “refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” and admonishes us to “not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those in opposition.” 

It is a wise person who can gently disagree with a person, setting aside their own indignation while keeping their emotions under control.

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James uses the word reasonableness; eupeithēs is translated more literally as “easy to be intreated.” The word means compliant, ready to obey. In Jeremiah 17:23, God said the children of Israel “did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.” This is the opposite of reasonableness, or humility! The wise person is willing to be corrected and change course when confronted. To say it another way, we are “able to be reasoned with.”

Jesus calls this kind of person “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), one who can admit their own sin. To be reasonable requires humility, and is expressed in kindness, the fruit of the Spirit that relates to reasonableness. It is to be easily correctable, not responding in a haughty or prideful way. Peter describes this as brotherly kindness, in which New Testament believers cherish one another as brothers and sisters.

In the context of teaching on spiritual gifts, and the responsibility of the body of Christ to “speak the truth in love” to one another so that we all grow to spiritual maturity, Paul prefaced his words with the admonition to “show tolerance for one another in love” with all humility (Ephesians 4:2).

The wise person accepts correction with a humble and kind spirit, and we are to correct one another in love and humility. We are to be reasonable, spurring one another on to obedience to Christ.

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James told us that the wisdom from above is “full of mercy and good fruits.” Mercy is eleos, defined as kindness or goodwill towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them. Fruit is karpos, that which originates or comes from something, an effect or result such as an act or deed. Our good deeds are rooted in mercy. We act for the benefit of others (we do good to them) because we are moved by mercy.

Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit, as the indwelling Spirit of God prompts us to act. Jesus commended this character trait in Matthew 5:7 when He said, “Blessed are the merciful.”

Peter does not mention “goodness;” instead he adds “godliness” to his list of spiritual disciplines. Godliness is eusebeia and indicates reverence and devotion toward God. Interestingly, Peter uses the plural of the word, indicating “acts” of godliness. In other words, we act as God would act, out of devotion to Him.

I believe this supports our pillar of mercy perfectly. God showed us mercy and acted on our behalf, doing the only good deed that could save us in sending Jesus to the cross. The wise person recognizes that we have no goodness in and of ourselves to offer others (Romans 7:18), but God’s Spirit in us absolutely is good, and works mercifully through us on behalf of others.

Pillar 6 – Faithfulness

James describes this pillar as “unwavering.” The word is adiakritos and means without dubiousness, ambiguity, or uncertainty; it has the idea of hesitating or doubting. James tells us we must not doubt in our pursuit of wisdom but ask in faith (James 1:6-8). The doubter is described as an unstable, double-minded man, tossed about like the sea.

To be unwavering is to be faithful, a fruit of the Spirit. It is also to be patient (another fruit), willing to wait on God and stand firm in the trials of life. Jesus commends the faithful by saying, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness” (Matthew 5:10-12), and concludes His sermon by telling us the wise man’s house stands firm in the storm because he has built on the rock by hearing and acting on Jesus’ words.

Obedience is the hallmark of faithfulness. Peter includes perseverance in his list of spiritual disciplines. The wise man settles his heart on God, and stays there, regardless of what the culture around him says or how difficult the circumstances may be.

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James’ last description is “without hypocrisy,” meaning sincere and genuine; the word is anypokritos and is only used five other times, referring either to unfeigned love or unfeigned faith. What does it mean to be without hypocrisy? In his prayer of repentance, David says it very well. “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom” (Psalm 51:6).

True wisdom comes when we are completely honest before God, sincerely faithful, genuinely loving Him with all that we are, and committed to walking in truth.

The fruit of the Spirit that undergirds truth is love and joy. Walking in truth brings joy (3 John 1:4). We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), and love one another in deed and truth (1 John 3:18). Jesus said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6), teaching us that the life that pursues truth is the only life that satisfies. Peter’s last spiritual discipline ties in perfectly with truth, as he admonishes us to pursue knowledge. We circle back to where we began with the foundation of all wisdom, found only in the fear and knowledge of God, Jesus our Savior, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Purity. 

Peace. 

Gentleness. 

Humility. 

Mercy. 

Faithfulness. 

Truth.

Seven pillars that create a house of wisdom, built on the fear and knowledge of God. How’s your house?

All Greek word definitions are taken from blueletterbible.org.

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Author Sheila Alewine is a pastor’s wife, mother and grandmother. She and her husband lead Around The Corner Ministries, which serves to equip Christ-followers to share the gospel where they live, work and play. She has written several devotionals including Living In Light of the Manger (Advent), Just Pray: God’s Not Done With You Yet, Grace & Glory: 50 Days in the Purpose & Plan of God, as well as Going Around The Corner, a Bible study for small groups who desire to reach their communities for Christ. Sheila has a passion for God’s Word and shares what God is teaching her on her blog, The Way of The Word. Connect with her on her blog, Facebook, and Instagram.