"Light In The Eyes"

"There's nothing better than being wise, knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes and gives gentleness to words and manners." Eccl 8:1 MSG

I think wisdom combines knowledge with intelligence that produces integrity. But, its also a journey to get there. The wisest people I have known exhibit that "light in the eyes", the courage and confidence to move forward no matter what. Some people get stuck in the past and live with an overpowering resentment that ignores wisdom and tends to wallow in anger and self pity. That lifestyle is destined to self destruct.

Wisdom refuses to be a captive of the past because its founded on faith in God and faith ALWAYS looks forward. There may be times when I have more questions than answers to some of my questions about "life", but with faith I can take a step at a time to walk out of anger and self pity.

Wisdom is the gift of God (James 1:5) that trains the tongue (heart) to cultivate congenial rather than adversarial relationships. There are no winners in a war, even the victors pay a very high price so regardless of the short term outcome, the long term result can and often is devastating. That doesn't mean all conflict is a bad thing, it can be a turning point toward a brighter day. Nearly all change is the result of some form of conflict, but wisdom always allows God to lead rather than self serving motives.

Wisdom learns to ask more and better questions then listen before resorting to conflict, BUT gentleness is never weakness. Jesus said, "Wisdom is proven by her actions", so allowing wisdom to train my tongue to be more gentle and mannerly isn't a bad thing. I sure wish I had understood that when I was a young father and husband.