The Beginning of Wisdom
One of the things that really stand out about CBU is the number of amazing professors who teach here.
I have had several good professors over the years, but one of my favorite professors here at CBU is Dr. Nathan Lewis, director of the graduate program in counseling ministry. He is one of the professors who created my major, Christian behavioral science, and because of that I have had him for most of my major’s classes. Many of his teachings have revolutionized my understanding of Christianity, and his humble attitude has inspired me for a lifetime.
One of the classes that I took with Dr. Lewis was Biblical Wisdom & Human Behavior, which I would recommend for all believers attending CBU. This purpose of the class to is to help Christians learn what godly wisdom is, how to get it, and what is not wisdom. One of the statements he made that was really relevant was that while we college students are in our 20s, we should work on killing our pride and finding wisdom, and if we do this, we will have much more success in life. This is crucial because humility is a crucial part of Christian living.
In my experience with some Christians and some churches, wisdom and humility is not taught overall. The main point of Christianity is the benefit of salvation. However, if that is the only aspect of Christianity that we encourage, then our Christianity is incomplete. Dr. Lewis taught that making Jesus Lord and fearing God is only the beginning of wisdom, as it says in Proverbs. There should not be such a thing as an unwise Christian, which is why it says in Ephesians 5:15 to “Be careful, then, how you live—not as unwise, but as wise.”
While this may seem normal and redundant for Christians who have been Christians “all their lives”, it was revolutionary for me when I realized the depth of this and the practicality of it in daily life. One of the examples Dr. Lewis gave was the use of “Lord willing” in our daily language. The Bible says that it is prideful to say that we are going to do this thing or another thing, and be confident that we are going to make it happen. It is prideful because God is the one who sustains us and determines our path, and so we should say, “I am going to do this, Lord willing.” Not only does saying it sound less prideful, but saying it also changes our attitude. I have noticed that the more I say it, the more I realize how much God holds my life in His hands and that my life is not my own.
Dr. Lewis helped me to realize how important it is to be aware of how we say things, because sometimes the words we say shape our attitudes. I have said, “I have done the righteous thing in regards to this situation”, but in reality, it is prideful to say that. Once I was taught to say, “I desire to do the right thing in regards to this situation”, it changed my attitude from “I am right” to “I want to do what’s right”.
I am still learning about wisdom and how to practically apply it in my life, but I am greatly indebted to professors like Dr. Lewis who have changed my life through their service at CBU.
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