William Douglas - The 25 Biblical Laws of Success: Powerful Principles to Transform Your Career and Business

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

P ROVERBS 3:1315

Wisdom is the foundation on which success is achieved. Some call it organizational, strategic, or financial intelligence when choosing what you want and how to get there. But when we follow the Law of Wisdom, we can choose which seeds to sow and establish the right causes in order to enjoy the desired results.

We are not talking about intelligence as in the ability to deal with geometrical abstractions, mathematical calculations, or memory tests but as the capacity to adapt while searching for happiness. The intelligence we are talking about is synonymous with wisdom, which is to know what, when, and how to do something and why it is worth doing. There are people who are very intelligentwith a high IQ and a prodigious capacity for reasoning and memorybut who lack wisdom for living. In this context, we are talking about not only so-called emotional intelligence but also a whole set of knowledge and abilities.

This greater intelligence, synonymous with wisdom, is the result of a combination of factors. One doesnt have to be born a genius; the means to happiness and success are readily available to us all, depending on our choices. You can become wiseall it takes is the desire to do so and a willingness to pay the price of obtaining knowledge and practicing intelligence.

Proverbs 3:1315 reminds us that the best investment is not in gold or silver but in wisdom. After all, as another passage in Proverbs tells us, By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers (24:36).

Wisdom should be a constant in everyones life and involves three degrees or levels:

1. The first degree of wisdom is having wisdom in general, the necessary knowledge, good sense, and information to make the right choices and have the right attitudes in life.
2. The second degree of wisdom is a professional competence relating specifically to knowledge of how to work, which requires intelligence (in the sense of adaptation) and skill.
3. The third degree of wisdom involves in-depth knowledge, at the intimate level, of the necessary areas and people required for success.

The way to acquire these three levels of wisdom is to develop the ability to seek learning. You must be willing and humble enough to be open to learning, which will involve studying, reading the Bible and other books, examining your own experiences, and heeding the advice of a mentor, coach, teacher, friend, or coworker.

Todays job market is highly competitive; it is almost a daily battle to succeed. The Bible recommends that we be prudent in this battle and that we look for advisers to help us along the way. That is why it is wise to be always studying, so that our advisers (who may be authors of books we read, teachers, or coworkers) can help us conduct this war properly.

Which advisers have you been following? What was the last course you took, the last book you read, the last lecture you attended? When was the last time you asked a wise person for advice or turned to a professional coach or mentor?