June 7, 2021
The Habits of Wisdom
I’m preparing to give a talk on womanhood this coming Saturday at my church. (If you’re interested to register for this conference about womanhood and also singleness, you can learn more here.)
If you grew up in a conservative, evangelical church, you are probably familiar with Proverbs 31, a 22-line acrostic poem describing the industrious, enterprising woman who fears the LORD. As a woman, you grow tired reading it, especially since you’re supposed to “rise while it is yet night” (verse 15) and ensure that your “lamp does not go out at night” (verse 18).
The passage is often sermonized as an ambitious to-do list for women. But it was the late Rachel Held Evans who was the first to teach me—in her book, The Year of Biblical Womanhood—that men have traditionally sung this hymn of praise to their wives over Shabbat dinner. It’s not, in fact, a list of imperatives like Go find real estate to buy! And Learn how to sew!
As I’ve dug more into a study of the book of Proverbs (and benefitted from the work of Derek Kidner), I’ve learned that this passage serves as a portrait of the person who models the practical wisdom outlined in the rest of the book. The wisdom of the Proverbs 31 woman isn’t womanly wisdom alone. The virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman—industry, trustworthiness, generosity, fear of the Lord—aren’t feminine qualities alone. According to Kidner, this poem illumines “the disciplined qualities and habits that make for stability and that work with the grain of God’s world.”
You’ll know, of course, that my interest was immediately piqued here. Kidner was using wisdom to describe, not simply the capacity for thinking rightly, but for living well. He was arguing that wisdom is exercised in our daily rhythms. Wisdom isn’t just what you need when you’re considering a move or a job change or a marriage proposal. Wisdom is what you need for ordering your week: for deciding how you’ll spend your time, your money, your energy. Wisdom is a micro-virtue. According to Kidner, Proverbs asks “what a person is like to live with, or to employ; how he manages his affairs, his time and himself.”
Kidner goes on to talk about the words that are used as synonyms for wisdom throughout the book of Proverbs. These include the words, instruction and training. These words are a reminder that wisdom isn’t gained by hoping for it or even by occasionally seeking it. Wisdom “is for disciples only.” It’s for those who train, who practice, who engage the regular conditions for growing in it.
According to the gospel, wisdom is fully found in the person of Jesus Christ, who is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). There is no wisdom apart from Christ and the free grace we’re offered because of his life, death, and resurrection.
But grace doesn’t make us passive. We must make a response to grace. And for those who follow Christ, the wisdom of God, if we want to be formed in his wisdom, we must engage habits of spiritual training. This is, of course, language the Apostle Paul used: “Train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7, 8).
If we follow a regimen for staying fit, for advancing in our careers, for investing in our friendships and marriages, why not also engage a regimen for growing in godliness?
A habit inventory can tell us a lot about what we really love.
Here’s where I plug (again) a needed book: Brett McCracken’s The Wisdom Pyramid. If you’re interested in what some habits of wisdom might look like, this book is a great place to start.
Until next week,
Jen