Knowledge into Wisdom

by Nicole Cifuentes

Wisdom in finances

The wise save wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.

Proverbs 21:20 NLT

Not using wisdom

I am about to get really honest with you all today and pray my faults to help you to build your life in wisdom.

I am a fairly knowledgeable person. I have a knack for reading, understanding, and logging that information into the back of my brain. Where I fault is wisdom. Remember what Marcie spoke about earlier this week in her devotion God is Wise? Wisdom is not just having the knowledge, but then putting that knowledge into practice.

The biggest place in my life I failed at this is in our finances.

I have always struggled with balancing budgets. I know all the knowledge (first tithe, then put 10% in savings, retirement, bills, create budgets on percentages of your income) but I don’t like living by those rules. I love spending our money on the fun things in life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the worst but I’m also not following wisdom. I will sacrifice our savings money for a new shirt or toy for my kids. I might splurge on a night eating out instead of pinching pennies by eating what we have in our cupboard.

It is the epitome of not using wisdom.

Time for a change

So, I have been actively changing that for myself.

Proverbs 4:7 says “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight”

I have been taking time to study biblical wisdom around finances. I have a devotional around it, listening to podcasts about it, and I’m seeking wisdom from my friends who are wise about their money.

We have started with creating a family budget using principles from bible loving sources such as Dave Ramsey or Christian Financial Resources. I use an app to track our budgets and work to stay within our means. I'm actively taking inventory of what we have so I don't buy unnecessary things that end up overfilling our apartment.

I also took this verse and put it on my mirror to remind myself there are some things better than money:

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!

Proverbs 16:16 NIV

But I do still make mistakes. I still have moments of failure.

It's not easy, but the good things in life rarely are. I know this lesson on wisdom is like training for a marathon. I have to start walking before running. I won’t learn this overnight. This will take months if not years to fully put into practice, but that’s the beauty of life!

If you're also struggling with turning biblical knowledge into wisdom, remember you're not alone. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23) but we can also change. It will take time but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Lean into Him to change your heart (Psalm 51:10) and He won't stop till you are made whole (Philippians 1:6).