Understanding Wisdom: Full of Mercy and Good Fruit
ABBY HUTTO|GUEST “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). When I first began reading and reflecting on the book of James, I was in my early twenties. I was eager to learn and do. I was quick to read a list of commands and rush out to try and implement them in my daily life. I tried to force myself to become pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. I was met with limited success in this endeavor! After much striving, I walked away from James discouraged. My faith often lacked the works that proved its validity. I had a tongue that I could never seem to bridle and a heart that struggled, and often failed to be merciful and gentle. For many years, I avoided James altogether. Jesus Through the Eyes of James Over a decade later, I was exhausted and burnt out from all my striving. In what felt like a last-ditch effort to recover my flailing faith, I set aside a year to study the Gospel of John. I spent this year walking with Jesus and saw him through the eyes of the beloved disciple. I saw his compassionate, merciful heart. Jesus was quick to be moved by pity when he encountered those whose lives had been ravaged by the wages of sin. His gentleness astounded me. His willingness to sit and reason with people who knew far less than he did melted my skeptical heart. He accepted those the world rejected. He valued those the world discarded. He embraced the poor, the needy, and the outcast. His impartiality cut me to the quick in a way that made me want to be around him all the time. He was merciful and full of good fruit...
