Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 11 of our Wisdom-Trek and thank you for joining me. 

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Today we investigate the 7 Columns of Wisdom.

Hello and welcome to Wisdom-Trek!   This is Guthrie Chamberlain, and I am your Guide to Wisdom. This is Day 11 of our Trek, and today we will look at the 7 Columns of Wisdom’s House which provides us the structure for a successful Wisdom-Trek.

Today we are recording our podcast/journal from our studio at The Big House  in Marietta, Ohio.  We continue living a full and rich life that some days makes my head spin.  As I am starting to write this journal for day 11 of this podcast, I am sitting at gate C55 in the Columbus Ohio Airport and on my may to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Tomorrow I will perform a technical software demo for one of our clients. Our many years working with technology has given me a broad knowledge in this area. This trip hit my schedule on rather short notice, but I am thankful for this opportunity and the skills to fill this role. I have to admit one of the hurdles on planning, scripting, and recording these daily podcasts has been allocating enough time to produce a quality podcast while balancing a heavy client schedule.  We are always grateful for the varied and rich opportunities of life although maintaining a balanced life as an entrepreneur is always challenging.  I wouldn’t have it any other way, though.

As we share each day, our objective is for you to get to know us on a personal level, to enable us to not only be your mentor but also your friend. Please leave your comments or questions if you would like to know anything about our lives as we get to know each other on this trek of life.  Also, please check out our website Wisdom-Trek.com/About Wisdom-Trek.

We would also like to get to know you better, so please feel free to share with us on Wisdom-Trek.com/Contact Us, leave us a message on our Facebook page Wisdom-Trek, or email me at guthrie@venturecg.com – I will personally respond to any inquiries.

In the initial 11 episodes:

• We first established a base camp.
• Next we established a purpose for our Trek and discussed what is needed in order to stay on track towards our destination while still enjoying the journey.
• Then, we laid out the foundation for a successful Wisdom-Trek by inspecting the tools needed to assist us in creating a living legacy.

Today we will build the structure on our foundation by looking at principles for obtaining the wisdom that we need for success.

After today, we will start looking at separate “wisdom nuggets” or topics that will assist us as we trek this life together. Some of these nuggets may string together over multiple days, but each day we will take time to stop and enjoy the scenery as we look at snapshots of wisdom.

As an analogy, think about these wisdom nuggets as our daily nutritional supplements.  When taken along with your own life experiences, they will provide you with the nutrients you need to live long and prosper. It is my hope that you have enjoyed our trek so far as much as I have and that you will continue to join with us each day.

Today, we want to ask the question, if wisdom were to build a house, what would this “wisdom house” look like? Proverbs 9:1 indicates that this has happened,  “Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven columns.”

A basis for the 7 Columns is that 7 is the number of completion or perfection.  So the 7 Columns of Wisdom’s house shows complete wisdom.

As I have studied this, I had to ask myself, what are the 7 columns that make up complete wisdom?

I searched for insight on this, both from other philosophers, students of the Bible, and my own study.  Some scholars point back to Proverbs 8 and list prudence, knowledge, fear of the Lord, counsel, sound wisdom, understanding, and strength.  While these are good traits to have,  I have settled on the fact that these seven columns are described in a letter written by Christ’s half-brother James.  I came to that conclusion with the realization that if ultimately all good wisdom comes from God then the 7 columns must be listed in God’s Word.

Earlier in chapter 3 of James’ letter is a listing of what wisdom is not, so starting in the 17^th and 18^th verses the passage reads, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”

Pure – Peace Loving – Gentle – Always Serving – Full of Mercy – No Favoritism – Sincere

So let’s look at these 7 Columns, or pillars, that wisdom has used to build her house.  As I look down a rabbit trail on our trek, and not necessarily from a theological standpoint, I find it interesting that Wisdom in Proverbs 9:1 is referred to in the feminine gender.  I have certainly come to respect and rely on the wisdom and insight that Paula, my bride of 36 years has provided to me. I will also never forget the wisdom that my mom had while she was alive. The wisdom nuggets or seeds that mom planted in me are the foundation for the wisdom fruit that I am able to harvest in my life today.

The 7 Columns of Wisdom’s House are:

1. First of all pure – Purity is so lacking in our world today, and yet the first primary column in Wisdom’s House is first of all pure. Something that is pure is without contaminants.  It is not mixed with elements that would compromise its original composition. It is not compromised or polluted in any manner.  For us to have the wisdom to create and build a living legacy, we need to purge those things in our lives that would cause us to compromise. We need to have integrity in all areas of our lives.  To be pure, we cannot compartmentalize our lives where we are one person at work, another at church, another around friends and yet another with our close family.
2. Peace-loving – A wise person will love peace. They will be at peace with themselves because they are living a life that is pure, and they willing to promote peace to everyone they impact.  Listen to the podcast or read the journal for day 4 for more insight on peace.
3. Gentle at all times – A gentle person will be gentle to everyone they interact with, and in every situation. It is not reserved for certain people or places. Listen to the podcast or read the journal for day 9 for more insight on gentleness
4. Willing to yield to others – Gaining wisdom is not easy, and this one is a difficult one for me and I am sure most of you. We do not like to give into others.  We want to be in charge, to call the shots.  A wise person knows that the best way to lead others is to serve them.  Serving others requires that we yield to our own will for the betterment of others.
5. Full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds – We become wise as we show mercy to others, by doing good to and for them. Love in action is being merciful to others by doing what is good.  Listen to the podcast or read the journal for day 7 for more insight on goodness.
6. Shows no favoritism – To show favoritism is not wise. Every person is valuable and can bring value into our lives.  To show favoritism to one person or group of persons over another is to say that some people are more worthy or special than others. We all have areas of giftedness. Just because we are strong in one area does not mean that we should be favored.  There are many other areas where we are weak, and we need the compassion of others in those areas.
7. Always sincere – To be sincere is to be authentic or whole. We should not put on a facade in an attempt to impress others.  We need to be genuine.  The word “sincere” comes from a Greek word that means “without wax.”  The merchants of the Roman world with take pottery with cracks in it and fill the cracks with wax so they would appear as whole.  Once the purchaser would get it home and the pottery set in the sun, the wax would melt out and expose the cracks.  Our lives need to be sincere without wax.

As we finish our look at the 7 columns that are the structure of Wisdom’s House, James exhorts us in verse 18 to, “Be peacemakers by planting the seeds of peace in others so that we will reap a harvest of right living.”

That will finish our podcast/journal for today. Tomorrow we start up the trail to scale new heights and discover the important difference between our clock and our compass. Please check into our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Today’s free tool is a high resolution PDF of Wisdom’s House 7 Columns to be used as a reminder for each day. It can be found with the other resources on our Free Resources webpage, or simply click on the image below.

I encourage you to leave a discussion topic, comment, suggestion, or question about this podcast in the comment form on Wisdom-Trek.com/day11, or email me at guthrie@venturecg.com.

If you have not done so already, please take the time to visit iTunes, Stitcher, or an Android player and subscribe so that Wisdom-Trek will be available for you each day automatically.  We also have a Subscribe to Podcast page.

Please leave us a rating on each episode, and spread the word to everyone you know to join us on our Wisdom-Trek. Thank you!

Check out Wisdom-Trek.com for the daily journal, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

As we take this Trek together let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!