Encouragement for Your Week: January 18-24

This Week’s Verse

Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”. - 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

Devotion

There are two kinds of wisdom: the kind the world offers and the kind God offers. Worldly wisdom comes from a human perspective, which is naturally limited by what we can see, touch, and experience here on earth. God’s wisdom, however, comes from an infinite perspective. Because God is the Creator who exists outside of time and space, His understanding is not restricted by human boundaries.

The problem is that many people who consider themselves "wise" by the world’s standards often reject God’s truth. Instead of recognizing Him as the ultimate source of life, they treat created things—or even themselves—as if they were gods. Rather than following God's plan, they prioritize their own desires. In extreme cases, this leads people to flip reality upside down, calling things "good" that God has labeled evil, and calling "evil" what God says is good.

Because the world views God’s truth as nonsense, Christians often feel a lot of pressure to fit in. It’s tempting to water down our faith just to avoid being mocked or judged. It isn't easy to swim against the current of popular opinion, and it's even harder to be looked down upon as a "fool" by people who think they know better.

But if you want to be faithful to God, you have to be prepared for the world to misunderstand you. The Apostle Paul warns us not to lie to ourselves about this: the only way to be truly wise is to be willing to look like a fool in the eyes of the world. You have to take a stand. Instead of trying to please everyone, we must accept that being a "fool" to the world is the only way to be truly wise in the eyes of God.