DAY 3: ABOUT PEOPLE - TEST THE HEART

After King Solomon received his gift of wisdom, it started to become visible through the excellent decisions he made. All the tricky areas of life became organized and successful because of his wisdom.

The first area that is often difficult to navigate, is decisions that involve people. Or when there is a conflict between them. It is almost impossible to know people’s true motives in any given situation. And we often end up having to make decisions based on a mere gut feeling.

King Solomon faced a complicated situation like this when two women were fighting over a dead baby (1 Kings 3). Without getting into any of the nitty-gritty of the story, Solomon knew that the answer lay in the hearts of the women. The woman who had her child’s best interest at heart was the real mother. How obvious and genius at the same time!

Judging people by their hearts is no foreign concept in the Bible. From the beginning, God dealt with his children by looking at their hearts. The condition of Cain’s heart was the reason God did not accept his sacrifice (Genesis 4). And when the first king of Israel had to be appointed, God used only one criterion, David’s heart. “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, NLT).

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He applied the same wisdom when judging people’s motives. Jesus saw right through the religious leaders’ actions and into their hearts. “Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, ‘Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?’” (Matthew 9:4, NLT). We can now practice the same wise discernment by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you sometimes struggle to make accurate decisions where people are involved? Are you often disappointed by errors in judgment of other people?

Let us follow the example of King Solomon’s great wisdom. Let us base our decisions on the state of people's hearts instead of outward appearances. “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God” (1 John 4:1, NLT).

“Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted” (Proverbs 2:12, NLT).

Scripture readings:

1 Kings 3:16-28

1 Samuel 16:7

1 John 4:1-3

Proverbs 2:12