Latest / LifeAudio / Compared to Who? Body Image for Christian Women - How to Seek God's Wisdom and Discern What to Believe Online: Knowledge Vs. Wisdom Over the Influence Ep. 4

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Compared to Who? Body Image for Christian Women - How to Seek God's Wisdom and Discern What to Believe Online: Knowledge Vs. Wisdom Over the Influence Ep. 4 · LifeAudio

0:02
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey there, Heather Creekmore here. Thanks for listening
0:07
Speaker 1: to the Compared To Podcast today. Have you ever thought
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Speaker 1: about how crazy it is that we have so much
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Speaker 1: knowledge now? I mean, think about how even 30 years ago,
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Speaker 1: people walked around without knowing in real time what their
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Speaker 1: hurt rate was, what their blood sugar was, what the
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Speaker 1: exact location of their entire family was. If they had
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Speaker 1: a strange rash, they may have asked a family member
0:37
Speaker 1: who had to glean from any experience they had with
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Speaker 1: strange rashes as they gave their assessment. But they had
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Speaker 1: to do that while they waited for a doctor's appointment
0:48
Speaker 1: to get that rash diagnosed. There was no Googling. There
0:51
Speaker 1: was no taking a picture of it and putting it
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Speaker 1: into Gemini and having AI diagnose you. You did not
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Speaker 1: have access to that kind of knowledge. We're in a
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Speaker 1: series called Over the Influence, and today we're going to
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Speaker 1: talk about what I believe is one of the most
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Speaker 1: dangerous aspects of how we're influenced. That is, we have
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Speaker 1: so much knowledge, so much access to know just about anything.
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Speaker 1: But is that good for us? I mean, we can't
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Speaker 1: change it. We don't really want to change it. The
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Speaker 1: challenge is this information does influence us. And honestly, AI
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Speaker 1: and Google aren't always right. They may make some good points,
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Speaker 1: but just because AI or Google says it, perhaps we
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Speaker 1: shouldn't always believe it. But today I want to explore
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Speaker 1: what all of this knowledge may be doing to us
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Speaker 1: in terms of how we're influenced and how it may
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Speaker 1: also be affecting our faith. So today we're breaking down
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Speaker 1: what is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? And what
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Speaker 1: are we doing with all this knowledge in the realm
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Speaker 1: of being influenced? How is this really affecting us? Hey,
2:09
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're here. Thank you so much for
2:12
Speaker 1: listening to this show. If you've not left a review yet, man,
2:15
Speaker 1: that's the nicest thing you could do. If this show
2:17
Speaker 1: has blessed you, leave us a review wherever you listen
2:20
Speaker 1: to your podcast. That will help other people find the
2:23
Speaker 1: show and know which episodes are best to listen to. Also,
2:26
Speaker 1: let me encourage you to go check out improvebodyimage.com. That's
2:30
Speaker 1: where you can find out how to work with me
2:32
Speaker 1: in coaching. You can find free plans on YouVersion, the
2:36
Speaker 1: Bible app. You can find out about all of my
2:39
Speaker 1: books and so much more. Go to improvebodyimage.com and you'll
2:43
Speaker 1: find all the things compared to you on that site.
2:55
Speaker 1: So today we're looking at knowledge versus wisdom. I think
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Speaker 1: these two concepts get really confused because we live in
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Speaker 1: an information age where, like I said in the intro,
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Speaker 1: we have access to so much information that sometimes we
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Speaker 1: can feel like we are being wise because we're operating
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Speaker 1: according to something we know and But maybe we know
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Speaker 1: it because we just happen to watch 100 videos on it.
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Speaker 1: You know, the funniest thing happened to me the other day.
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Speaker 1: I was talking to a friend and we were trying
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Speaker 1: to figure out, we're going to work out together and
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Speaker 1: we were trying to figure out like what we should do.
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Speaker 1: And it was so, so much just a wake up
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Speaker 1: call that my Instagram, Facebook, like Reels feed is not
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Speaker 1: the same as everyone else's. And so in my feed,
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Speaker 1: I see information over and over and over again about
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Speaker 1: how I should be lifting weights, lifting weights, lifting weights.
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Speaker 1: And it was so funny because she was saying, well,
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Speaker 1: what I'm seeing is that we really shouldn't be lifting
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Speaker 1: as many weights. We really should be doing like Pilates
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Speaker 1: and stretching and things like that. And it just was
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Speaker 1: so contrary to the quote unquote knowledge that I have
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Speaker 1: gleaned that I had to kind of stop for a
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Speaker 1: second and think, well, how do I know what I know?
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Speaker 1: I would say, I know what I know. And I
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Speaker 1: would almost say, I know what I know is true.
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Speaker 1: But then I stopped and I was like, oh, wait,
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Speaker 1: I just know that from watching videos on the internet, right?
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Speaker 1: Or from reading articles on the internet that are curated
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Speaker 1: for me, probably because I hovered over those articles. And
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Speaker 1: so they just send me more and more articles and
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Speaker 1: videos on the same topic, right? I'm being influenced. I'm
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Speaker 1: being pushed into knowing a lot about one area from
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Speaker 1: a specific subset of people talking about it from the
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Speaker 1: perspective I'm looking for. And that's completely different than what
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Speaker 1: even my friends who live less than a mile away
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Speaker 1: are seeing. So it's really important that we understand there's
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Speaker 1: a difference between knowledge and wisdom. And not all knowledge
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Speaker 1: is created equally. But knowledge isn't bad, right? Scripture talks
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Speaker 1: a lot about knowledge. It's fine to have knowledge. But
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Speaker 1: let's just be clear about the difference between knowledge and wisdom.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you've heard the old saying, right? Knowledge is knowing
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Speaker 1: that tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to
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Speaker 1: put it in your fruit salad, right? It's sort of
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Speaker 1: the same. So knowledge, just technically, definition here, Knowledge is information, facts,
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Speaker 1: and understanding. It's the accumulation of truth. Facts, instruction, awareness.
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Speaker 1: And scripture does value knowledge, but it treats knowledge as
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Speaker 1: incomplete on its own. And I think that's important. So
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Speaker 1: let's just like check out a couple of verses here.
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Speaker 1: Proverbs 1, 7. The fear of the Lord is the
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Speaker 1: beginning of knowledge. So knowledge has a starting point. And
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Speaker 1: the starting point is what you believe about God. Friend,
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Speaker 1: that is so important, right? Because if knowledge has a
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Speaker 1: starting point of what this guy on the internet said,
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Speaker 1: that's not grounded in absolute truth. That's not grounded in
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Speaker 1: God's truth. That could very well be grounded in the
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Speaker 1: world's truth. So we have to be careful when assessing
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Speaker 1: that sort of knowledge because it doesn't have the right foundation.
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Speaker 1: Proverbs 18, 15, an intelligent heart acquires knowledge. And the
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Speaker 1: ear of the wise seeks knowledge, right? So there's nothing
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Speaker 1: wrong with trying to seek and gather knowledge. Hosea 4.6
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Speaker 1: says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, right?
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Speaker 1: Like ignorance has consequences. We don't want to be like
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Speaker 1: just the ignorance is bliss, like put your hands, the
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Speaker 1: monkey hiding his ears and eyes, like I know nothing, right?
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Speaker 1: That's not what scripture endorses. Instead, it's that we have
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Speaker 1: to be careful about how we seek knowledge and then
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Speaker 1: what we do with it. Think about 1 Corinthians 8.1.
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Speaker 1: It talks about how knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
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Speaker 1: Knowledge on its own can produce love. pride. Oh, friend,
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Speaker 1: I have seen this. I have lived this. It's embarrassing
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Speaker 1: to say, but I mean, I was an early adopter
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Speaker 1: for gluten free. And I remember thinking that gluten free
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Speaker 1: and really even dairy free, like those were the superior
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Speaker 1: ways to eat. And because I knew so much because
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Speaker 1: I had read and watched so many videos, I knew
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Speaker 1: so much. I had so much knowledge around gluten and
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Speaker 1: dairy and what it did to your body that, oh, friend,
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Speaker 1: it produced in me. So then I would go and
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Speaker 1: watch people eat pizza and be like, oh, they must
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Speaker 1: not know. Not that I said anything. I just angrily
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Speaker 1: ate my salad alone thinking, oh, it's a shame. They're
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Speaker 1: so ignorant of what those foods are doing to their body.
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Speaker 1: And now I think all of that is poppycock because
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Speaker 1: even like what was knowledge around some of that then
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Speaker 1: has changed, right? Knowledge is constantly changing. We always know more.
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Speaker 1: But what that knowledge produced in me was not anything
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Speaker 1: that looked like fruit of the spirit. It was pride.
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Speaker 1: So we have to be careful in our accumulation of
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Speaker 1: knowledge as we are influenced around knowledge, not to let
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Speaker 1: our outcome be one where I am superior to you
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Speaker 1: because I know all the things. Sometimes I wonder if
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Speaker 1: we'd all be better off just getting off all the socials,
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Speaker 1: YouTube included, getting off the internet and no longer knowing
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Speaker 1: all the things because knowing all the things can make
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Speaker 1: us not as loving of a person. And in fact,
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Speaker 1: Paul even recognizes this before the internet existed in 1
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Speaker 1: Corinthians 13 too. Paul says, even with all knowledge. If
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Speaker 1: you don't have love, you'll have nothing. Okay, then let's
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Speaker 1: talk about wisdom. So wisdom, by definition, is the skillful,
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Speaker 1: godly appreciation and use of knowledge. So the Hebrew word
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Speaker 1: chakma describes skill or mastery, kind of like a craftsman
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Speaker 1: who would build something masterfully. Wisdom is knowing what to do, when,
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Speaker 1: and why. and then doing it in a way that
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Speaker 1: honors God. Okay, so let's go back to scripture. Proverbs 9.10,
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Speaker 1: the fear of the Lord is also the beginning of wisdom,
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Speaker 1: and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight, right?
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Speaker 1: So Proverbs 1.7 was the fear of the Lord is
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Speaker 1: the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 9.10, the fear of the
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Speaker 1: Lord is the beginning of wisdom, right? So you're not
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Speaker 1: going to find, I mean, there is wisdom in this world,
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Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that in just a minute, right?
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Speaker 1: But your wisdom has to be rooted in your reverence
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Speaker 1: of God and your understanding of God's truth is the truth,
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Speaker 1: and there's no other truth other than God's truth. Proverbs 4, 7,
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Speaker 1: the beginning of wisdom is this, get wisdom and whatever
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Speaker 1: you get, get insight, right? Wisdom is where our insight begins.
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Speaker 1: You can have knowledge of a situation and not have
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Speaker 1: wisdom and insight into the situation. James 1, 5, if
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Speaker 1: any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who
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Speaker 1: gives generously to all without reproach and it will be
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Speaker 1: given him. Like this is, this should be your life
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Speaker 1: verse friend. Like we pick a lot of life verses out,
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Speaker 1: but this one, this one speaks to me because I
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Speaker 1: think about how God was so pleased with Solomon when
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Speaker 1: God said, you can ask for anything. And he asked
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Speaker 1: for wisdom. Why is this man who ever lived right?
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Speaker 1: And James one five tells us there is one prayer
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Speaker 1: you can ask and God is going to give it
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Speaker 1: to you every time. And that's wisdom, right? If you
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Speaker 1: lack wisdom, ask God who gives generously to all without
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Speaker 1: reproach and it will be given to him. Friend, how
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Speaker 1: often are you praying for wisdom? Like as I think
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Speaker 1: about us being influenced or overly influenced, I think about
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Speaker 1: my shallow quest to gain more and more and more
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Speaker 1: and more knowledge. But what would my life look like
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Speaker 1: if I spent all of that time I am using
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Speaker 1: to glean knowledge, if I spent all that time praying
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Speaker 1: for wisdom? Wow. Wow. feels like it wouldn't be life-changing,
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Speaker 1: wouldn't it? James 3, 13, and then again, verse 17.
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Speaker 1: Wisdom shows itself in conduct. Who is wise in understanding
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Speaker 1: a menu? By his good conduct, let him show his
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Speaker 1: works in the meekness of wisdom. So heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle,
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Speaker 1: open to reason, full of mercy, and good fruits. So James, again,
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Speaker 1: talking about wisdom and at first he's saying, like, we
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Speaker 1: can tell who's wise by the way they conduct themselves,
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Speaker 1: by their meekness. Wisdom isn't haughty. Wisdom isn't prideful, right?
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Speaker 1: It's doing what God has called us to do in
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Speaker 1: meekness and humility. But then in verse 17, heavenly wisdom,
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Speaker 1: we're going to talk because there's another verse later that
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Speaker 1: we're going to get to where it talks about the
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Speaker 1: difference between heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom, right? But heavenly
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Speaker 1: wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of
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Speaker 1: mercy and good fruits. So you can tell whether or
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Speaker 1: not wisdom is from above, or the wisdom is from God,
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Speaker 1: or if it's the world's wisdom. And then finally, Matthew 7,
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Speaker 1: 24 to 27. Here, Matthew says, the wise man hears
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Speaker 1: Jesus's words, and does them. The foolish man hears them
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Speaker 1: and doesn't do them. Both people had the same information
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Speaker 1: in this story, but only one had wisdom. So if
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Speaker 1: I were to make a chart, here's what you need
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Speaker 1: to know. Knowledge is knowing what. Wisdom is knowing the
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Speaker 1: how and the why. Knowledge focuses on information and truth,
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Speaker 1: but wisdom focuses on application and discernment. Knowledge can make
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Speaker 1: us prideful, puff with pride, but wisdom should result in humility. Knowledge,
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Speaker 1: you can talk about knowledge. Knowledge is kind of what
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Speaker 1: you say. I mean, that's what you do a reel on.
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Speaker 1: But wisdom is more about how you actually live. And
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Speaker 1: knowledge you can glean from learning and from studying, but
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Speaker 1: wisdom we need to glean from the Lord in prayer.
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Speaker 1: Proverbs 2, 6 says, the Lord gives wisdom. From his
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Speaker 1: mouth come knowledge and understanding. So really, I mean, like
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Speaker 1: I said, our true source of both knowledge and wisdom
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Speaker 1: should be God. But wisdom is the higher skill level.
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Speaker 1: It's using what you know well. So let's talk about
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Speaker 1: how this relates to all those reels that you're influenced by, right?
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Speaker 1: The supplement ads, right? the food and exercise experts, right?
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Speaker 1: Their knowledge may be helpful, but wisdom is discerning. Well,
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Speaker 1: first of all, discerning the truth because you guys, so
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Speaker 1: many of these ads are AI now. We don't even
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Speaker 1: know that that is a real woman telling us that
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Speaker 1: she's made that recipe or that she lost that weight.
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Speaker 1: It's kind of crazy. It's hard to discern what is
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Speaker 1: true online now. But more so, wisdom is saying, hey,
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Speaker 1: that influencer may have said something that could help me.
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Speaker 1: Or they may not have. Or what I just heard
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Speaker 1: there might cause me to obsess. Or what I just
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Speaker 1: heard there might not be true for me at all,
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Speaker 1: even though it was true for them. Or what they
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Speaker 1: just like showed me, hmm, that could have worked for them,
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Speaker 1: but maybe that would actually be harmful for me and
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Speaker 1: my body. And friend, like that's a challenge. You can
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Speaker 1: glean more knowledge, more knowledge, more knowledge. But unless you
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Speaker 1: have God's wisdom to filter all this knowledge, it's crazy making,
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Speaker 1: isn't it? We can't possibly apply all the tips and
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Speaker 1: tricks we're getting. We could make thousands of them a day.
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Speaker 1: If you really stopped and counted, that would probably be
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Speaker 1: at a pretty accurate number. The other aspect to wisdom
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Speaker 1: is discernment. So you can have lots and lots of knowledge,
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Speaker 1: but wisdom is what allows us to have discernment, to
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Speaker 1: know whether or not these things, these facts that are
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Speaker 1: being presented to us, are actually helpful or false, not helpful,
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Speaker 1: or maybe just not helpful to us. When Solomon asked
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Speaker 1: for wisdom, part of his request, 1 Kings 3, 9,
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Speaker 1: was that he could discern between good and evil. Philippians 1,
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Speaker 1: 9 and 10 shows that Paul prays that love would
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Speaker 1: abound with knowledge and all discernment. so that you can
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Speaker 1: approve what is excellent. Knowledge gives the content, but discernment
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Speaker 1: and wisdom shows us how to apply what we know.
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Speaker 1: Knowledge without wisdom, without discernment just leaves us carried along
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Speaker 1: by the tide, right? Like this is how we become
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Speaker 1: overly influenced. That's why we were avoiding fat in the
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Speaker 1: 1980s and then eating fat bombs in 2010. Knowledge changes.
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Speaker 1: Eggs are good. Eggs are bad. Eggs are good again.
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Speaker 1: If you're like me, you did hours of cardio in
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Speaker 1: the 90s because that's how you got fit and healthy
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Speaker 1: and you avoided weights if you're a woman. And now
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Speaker 1: you're supposed to avoid cardio. I mean, knowledge is always changing. Remember,
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Speaker 1: doctors used to think using leeches on patients was good
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Speaker 1: medical treatment. I feel like enough said there. And the
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Speaker 1: danger is, like Ephesians 4 describes, that we will be
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Speaker 1: tossed and fro, the verse 414, so that we may
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Speaker 1: no longer be children. Do children have good discernment? No.
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Speaker 1: That's why we have to grow up. That's what I
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Speaker 1: talk to my clients about all the time. We have
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Speaker 1: to grow up. And I say it so lovingly, but
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Speaker 1: spiritual maturity is really at the root of most of
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Speaker 1: these issues that we struggle with, be it body image,
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Speaker 1: be it food, you name it. If we can grow
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Speaker 1: up in Jesus, so many of our struggles will start
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Speaker 1: to fade. It's about maturity, maturity growing up in him
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Speaker 1: in every way who is the head is Ephesians 4.15, right?
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Speaker 1: But back to 4.14, so we may no longer be
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Speaker 1: children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried
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Speaker 1: about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning. Hello, reels,
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Speaker 1: by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Man, hello, some diet companies
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Speaker 1: out there that are trying to trick you in various
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Speaker 1: ways into buying their plan or spending a ton of
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Speaker 1: money on something that really is just going to starve you.
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Speaker 1: I mean, oh, there's so many schemes out there and
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Speaker 1: we have to find the wisdom to be mature, to
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Speaker 1: grow up in him so that we have the discernment
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Speaker 1: to tell What is helpful knowledge and what is unhelpful
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Speaker 1: to us? Wisdom gives us a filter and it gives
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Speaker 1: us an anchor. Okay, let's look at a couple more
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Speaker 1: verses here. I'm really hitting you with tons of verses today.
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Speaker 1: But wisdom gives us a filter. 1 Thessalonians 5.21, test everything,
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Speaker 1: hold fast to what is good. Wisdom doesn't reject all input,
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Speaker 1: but it also doesn't swallow everything it hears and learns.
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Speaker 1: It tests things first. 1 John 4.1 says, do not
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Speaker 1: believe every spirit, But test the spirits to see whether
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Speaker 1: or not they are from God. There are confident, spiritual-sounding
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Speaker 1: voices out there that you still need to test. I
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Speaker 1: was in a group the other day, and I had
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Speaker 1: a woman tell me that she learned from a pastor
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Speaker 1: that we had to love ourselves before we could love others.
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Speaker 1: And I was like, test that friend, like read the Bible.
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Speaker 1: It says there in that Matthew passage that there's only
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Speaker 1: two commandments. To say that I have to love myself
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Speaker 1: before I can love others or love God well, just
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Speaker 1: isn't in the Bible. Not everyone wearing the label of
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Speaker 1: Christian or Christian authority is is actually speaking God's truth.
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Speaker 1: So you have to know the word and that gives
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Speaker 1: you a filter to figure out what is true. Test
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Speaker 1: the spirits. Wisdom also gives us an anchor. Psalms 1,
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Speaker 1: 1 through 3, the blessed person doesn't walk in the
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Speaker 1: counsel of the wicked, but delights in God's law and
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Speaker 1: is like a tree planted by streams of water. When
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Speaker 1: you are wise, you are rooted, you are anchored in
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Speaker 1: God's truth. And that helps you to apply what knowledge
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Speaker 1: you hear through, again, that filter of wisdom. But I
20:51
Speaker 1: told you we were going to look at how this
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Speaker 1: whole wisdom, knowledge, distinction affects our faith. And this is
20:59
Speaker 1: something that's going to be part of my brand new
21:02
Speaker 1: book coming out February 2nd. I'm so excited for it.
21:04
Speaker 1: I hope you are too. It's called, Did I Say
21:07
Speaker 1: the Right Thing? And a million other micro fears that
21:11
Speaker 1: hold Christian women back. You can pre-order it on Amazon
21:15
Speaker 1: right now. Just look up Heather Creekmore, Did I Say
21:18
Speaker 1: the Right Thing? But friend, we are influenced and I'm
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Speaker 1: afraid that this abundance of knowledge that we have accumulated
21:31
Speaker 1: is working against our faith. And let me tell you how.
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Speaker 1: if I know all the things, do I actually have
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Speaker 1: to lean on and rely on the Lord in the
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Speaker 1: same way as if I didn't know all the things, right?
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Speaker 1: Like I was watching television yesterday and there are dozens
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Speaker 1: and dozens of pharmaceutical commercials. And I was just thinking
21:54
Speaker 1: about this reality that like there are so many more
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Speaker 1: specific like diseases and issues that are diagnosed now than
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Speaker 1: there were even, you know, 15, 20, 30 years ago. Right.
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Speaker 1: And each of them has medication to help it or
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Speaker 1: to cure it even in some cases. Right. Which is fantastic.
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Speaker 1: I mean, if you have one of those specific issues,
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Speaker 1: like praise God that there's smart people out there developing
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Speaker 1: a cure for you. But think about the reality that
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Speaker 1: if you had the symptoms related to your random, you know,
22:27
Speaker 1: unique condition, if you had those symptoms 20 or 30
22:29
Speaker 1: years ago, what did you have to do? Right. The
22:32
Speaker 1: doctor's like, we don't know what it is. And so
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Speaker 1: you have to just pray, right? Like, God, help me. Like,
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Speaker 1: help me with this thing. I don't know what to do.
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Speaker 1: Help me with this thing. Like you had to lean
22:44
Speaker 1: on the Lord. If you're a person of faith, help me.
22:47
Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm supposed to handle this or
22:52
Speaker 1: cure me or like you just really had to lean in.
22:54
Speaker 1: Now you can lean into Google. You can put all
22:58
Speaker 1: your symptoms in and figure out, oh, I have this
23:00
Speaker 1: and then find the specific medication that addresses this and
23:04
Speaker 1: feel like really your healing can come from a pill.
23:09
Speaker 1: And again, I'm so grateful that there are pills out there.
23:12
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful that there are medicinal cures. But just
23:17
Speaker 1: think about how the additional knowledge that we have culturally
23:23
Speaker 1: may be affecting our first instinct, our gut instinct as
23:28
Speaker 1: Christians to turn to God first. Right? It's harder now.
23:33
Speaker 1: Another example. I was having a challenge with a teenager
23:37
Speaker 1: this summer. And I've really been, like God's been working
23:42
Speaker 1: on me around these influence issues for a year or
23:46
Speaker 1: so now. So this isn't a new topic for me.
23:49
Speaker 1: But one of the things God's been speaking to me
23:50
Speaker 1: about is not turning to Google when I have a problem.
23:53
Speaker 1: Not immediately Googling my issue and finding the answer. And
23:59
Speaker 1: I had a challenge with a teenager this summer. And
24:03
Speaker 1: I was picking up my phone, ready to Google, what
24:06
Speaker 1: do I do about? And I like almost audibly, it
24:10
Speaker 1: wasn't actually audibly, but the Holy Spirit was like, no,
24:13
Speaker 1: I want you to pray. I want you to ask me.
24:15
Speaker 1: I do not want you to Google that. Oh, that
24:18
Speaker 1: was so hard. I went outside. I prayed. I said, God,
24:22
Speaker 1: help me. Help me with this kid. Help me. Help
24:24
Speaker 1: me know what to do. Help me know what to
24:26
Speaker 1: say to this really difficult thing. And he was faithful.
24:32
Speaker 1: He did help me. And I had a great conversation
24:36
Speaker 1: and it went well. And I got to be honest, afterwards,
24:40
Speaker 1: I Googled it anyway, even though I knew I shouldn't,
24:43
Speaker 1: like I confessed, I repented of this. But I Googled anyway,
24:46
Speaker 1: just to make sure I didn't miss anything. I mean, friend, that's, oh,
24:50
Speaker 1: that's the ugliness, the messiness of what my own heart
24:54
Speaker 1: is doing around these issues of knowledge. I really have
24:58
Speaker 1: some level of trust. in strangers from the internet and
25:02
Speaker 1: what they tell me. And that's a faith issue. My
25:06
Speaker 1: heart needs to trust in God alone, right? Proverbs 3, 5,
25:11
Speaker 1: and 6, I go back to this verse all the time,
25:13
Speaker 1: but trust in the Lord with all your heart, right?
25:16
Speaker 1: Not trust in the Lord with half your heart and
25:18
Speaker 1: trust in Google, the other half your heart. Trust the
25:20
Speaker 1: Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.
25:24
Speaker 1: In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make
25:26
Speaker 1: your paths straight. Oh, friend, who are we trusting and
25:30
Speaker 1: who do we believe is the best source of knowledge?
25:36
Speaker 1: I mean, the other hard just reality here too is
25:39
Speaker 1: when I pray and ask God to answer, sometimes he
25:42
Speaker 1: doesn't give me the answer right away. Sometimes I have
25:45
Speaker 1: to wait. In fact, a lot of times I have
25:47
Speaker 1: to wait or I actually just have to keep walking
25:51
Speaker 1: in faith, trusting him, not really sure whether or not
25:55
Speaker 1: I'm getting it exactly right. But when I go to
25:58
Speaker 1: Google and just type in the answer, I'm going to
26:01
Speaker 1: get something spit out at me right away. There's an
26:03
Speaker 1: instant gratification that comes with Google being my source of knowledge.
26:09
Speaker 1: And man, that's handy to have it come right away,
26:12
Speaker 1: isn't it? But whose way is actually the best way?
26:18
Speaker 1: Whose way is actually true? rooted in God's truth, absolute truth, right?
26:22
Speaker 1: The knowledge I'm getting from Google is not reliable. Friend,
26:25
Speaker 1: I asked it some questions about me and my programs
26:29
Speaker 1: one time a year or so ago, like just to
26:33
Speaker 1: see how my marketing was and, you know, just to
26:35
Speaker 1: kind of check a few things to see like what's
26:37
Speaker 1: out there about me. And it explained to me one
26:40
Speaker 1: of my programs and it said that it was written
26:44
Speaker 1: by a doctor. She was a psychologist. I'm in Texas.
26:51
Speaker 1: She was a psychologist in North Carolina who was a
26:54
Speaker 1: big LGBTQ advocate. And then a friend of mine, and
27:01
Speaker 1: it gave her the title of reverend. She is not
27:04
Speaker 1: a reverend. It was so wrong. It just completely made
27:08
Speaker 1: up the information it gave me. And so I wrote
27:11
Speaker 1: back like, no, check again. That program was written by
27:14
Speaker 1: Heather Creekmore. And of course, it's like, oh, I'm so sorry,
27:17
Speaker 1: you're correct. That program was written by Heather Creekmore. But
27:20
Speaker 1: it startled me into the reality of, like, I can't
27:24
Speaker 1: rely on anything it tells me. I mean, it does
27:26
Speaker 1: say on fine print at the bottom of ChatGPT and Claude,
27:29
Speaker 1: it says, you know, that it could be wrong. But boy,
27:33
Speaker 1: it presents things so confidently. And how would you know
27:37
Speaker 1: it was wrong unless you were testing something that you
27:40
Speaker 1: already knew for sure to be true? If you're sincerely
27:43
Speaker 1: seeking something, you don't know whether it's wrong or not.
27:48
Speaker 1: And so friends, that's my encouragement slash caution to you, right?
27:53
Speaker 1: I want you to think today, are you focused on
27:56
Speaker 1: growing your knowledge? Do you have a thirst to just
27:59
Speaker 1: know more and more and more and how to fix
28:01
Speaker 1: it and what to do? Or are you seeking wisdom?
28:06
Speaker 1: You know, and I changed the pace as I said
28:09
Speaker 1: those two things because I feel like knowledge is quick.
28:12
Speaker 1: Like more, more, more, more, more. And wisdom is slow.
28:16
Speaker 1: It's wow, what do I do here? God, help me
28:21
Speaker 1: navigate this. Help me be wise. And we want to
28:26
Speaker 1: be wise God's way, right? Because let's go back to
28:29
Speaker 1: James a second. James says there's two kinds of wisdom.
28:33
Speaker 1: That's important to know. There's a wisdom that's from above,
28:36
Speaker 1: which is pure and peaceable, merciful wisdom. We talked about
28:39
Speaker 1: that before, but there's also a wisdom that is earthly
28:43
Speaker 1: and spiritual and demonic. And how do we tell which
28:48
Speaker 1: wisdom is which? Well, James says that that kind of
28:51
Speaker 1: wisdom is marked by jealousy and selfish ambition. And so
28:58
Speaker 1: that makes me think sometimes when we think we're being
29:01
Speaker 1: wise around things that we learned from influencers or the internet,
29:06
Speaker 1: we really have to check What is going on in
29:11
Speaker 1: our hearts? If I am, oh man, zealous for it
29:16
Speaker 1: because I want it for myself, that doesn't sound like
29:21
Speaker 1: God's kind of wisdom. Again, if I'm prideful about it
29:25
Speaker 1: or if I'm jealous that it seems like she's getting
29:28
Speaker 1: ahead of me because she's pursuing this, that might not
29:32
Speaker 1: be God's wisdom. It could be earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. wisdom. Yikes.
29:43
Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 1, 19-21 says that God will destroy the
29:50
Speaker 1: wisdom of the wise. Did God make foolish the wisdom
29:55
Speaker 1: of the world? It's a question. It's a confounds those
30:00
Speaker 1: who are wise in their own eyes and makes them
30:02
Speaker 1: seem foolish. Isaiah 5.21, woe to those who are wise
30:07
Speaker 1: in their own eyes. Proverbs 3.7, be not wise in
30:10
Speaker 1: your own eyes, fear the Lord. Romans 1.22, claiming to
30:14
Speaker 1: be wise, they became fools. We can't just assume that
30:19
Speaker 1: we're wise because we know a lot of things and
30:22
Speaker 1: we try to make good decisions. Wisdom has to be
30:25
Speaker 1: rooted in the Lord and in our relationship with Him.
30:30
Speaker 1: We have to constantly be going to Him and asking
30:34
Speaker 1: Him to lead us, to guide us. That's that spirit-led
30:37
Speaker 1: living we talked about a couple episodes ago. That is
30:41
Speaker 1: what wisdom is. So as we close today, let me
30:45
Speaker 1: just give you some more practical applications as you think
30:48
Speaker 1: about Knowledge versus wisdom and think about the ways that
30:51
Speaker 1: you are personally influenced, okay? So the first thing I
30:56
Speaker 1: suggest is pause before you absorb something. First, ask whether
31:01
Speaker 1: or not it's true, right? But then does this fit scripture?
31:05
Speaker 1: Does this match what scripture teaches? And asking this question,
31:09
Speaker 1: if I decide to believe this, if I take this
31:13
Speaker 1: knowledge as truth, who benefits? Second, I think it's really
31:19
Speaker 1: important to anchor your convictions in advance. You have to
31:23
Speaker 1: know what you actually believe before the pressure arrives. And so,
31:31
Speaker 1: you know, in the context of food and body stuff,
31:33
Speaker 1: in my 40-day body image workbook, I work through a
31:36
Speaker 1: lot of different questions to, and I offer you questions
31:40
Speaker 1: actually so you can work through what do you actually
31:43
Speaker 1: believe about your body and how God made your body
31:46
Speaker 1: and what your body's purpose is and what we should
31:49
Speaker 1: be doing around food. And I challenge you from all
31:51
Speaker 1: different directions around these issues so that you can come
31:57
Speaker 1: up with, okay, well this from scripture, I read this
32:01
Speaker 1: because I've got lots of scripture through there. From scripture,
32:03
Speaker 1: I read this and I think a right way, according
32:06
Speaker 1: to scripture, to think about my body is this. A
32:08
Speaker 1: right way to think about food is this. And then
32:10
Speaker 1: when you watch all those reels that tell you, eat this,
32:14
Speaker 1: not this, you know, this is true about your body.
32:17
Speaker 1: This isn't true about your body. You better keep working
32:20
Speaker 1: on your body to make it look like this because
32:22
Speaker 1: this isn't acceptable. Like all of these things. And again,
32:25
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that all reels are bad. Please hear me, right?
32:28
Speaker 1: But you have to know what is actually true according
32:31
Speaker 1: to God's word so that you have the wisdom, discernment,
32:34
Speaker 1: maturity to absorb all these sources of knowledge coming at
32:39
Speaker 1: you and come out of it not confused, not tossed
32:44
Speaker 1: to and fro, not buying everything presented to you, but
32:49
Speaker 1: come out of it confidently saying, okay, I believe this.
32:53
Speaker 1: And so, you know what? I can take this piece
32:55
Speaker 1: of information. That's helpful. But I'm going to Discard that
32:58
Speaker 1: piece of information. That's not helpful. That doesn't match my
33:01
Speaker 1: theology of the body. That doesn't match my theology of food.
33:04
Speaker 1: Number three, ask God for discernment. This is the most
33:06
Speaker 1: important thing. We should be doing this every single day
33:08
Speaker 1: because James 1.5 says, if this is something we seek,
33:11
Speaker 1: if we're praying for wisdom, God is going to give
33:14
Speaker 1: it to us. So why don't we pray for wisdom more? Friend,
33:16
Speaker 1: if you take nothing else from this episode, I hope
33:19
Speaker 1: every day you'll just say, God, give me wisdom. Give
33:21
Speaker 1: me wisdom. Help me. Help me to see what is
33:26
Speaker 1: true according to your word. Give me wisdom to navigate
33:29
Speaker 1: these things. We live in a very confusing culture, right?
33:33
Speaker 1: We need God's wisdom desperately. And then number four, watch
33:39
Speaker 1: what you're taking in. Friend, again, like there is no
33:43
Speaker 1: shame or finger pointing in this. But if you're spending
33:50
Speaker 1: two hours a day on the internet being influenced by
33:54
Speaker 1: and getting in five to 10 minutes of Bible time,
33:58
Speaker 1: whose voice is going to be loudest? I mean, and
34:01
Speaker 1: I'm not necessarily saying you should be spending two hours
34:04
Speaker 1: reading the Bible. That'd be awesome if you did. I
34:06
Speaker 1: don't do that. I wish I did. I don't, but
34:10
Speaker 1: it is worth me being more cognizant about those two
34:13
Speaker 1: hours I spend on the internet and what they're doing
34:15
Speaker 1: to me or two hours I spend on Netflix and
34:17
Speaker 1: what those messages are doing to me, right? Like we
34:21
Speaker 1: have to be discerning of what messages we're taking in
34:26
Speaker 1: because those messages are affecting us. And the only way
34:30
Speaker 1: to be truly over the influence, right, is to be
34:34
Speaker 1: so grounded and rooted in Christ that he influences me
34:38
Speaker 1: more than any other thing on this earth. And friend,
34:42
Speaker 1: I'm not there yet. I wish I was, but I'm
34:45
Speaker 1: not there yet. And I hope that this can be
34:46
Speaker 1: a call to myself and to all of us, right?
34:52
Speaker 1: to be less influenced, to be wise, to not thrive
34:58
Speaker 1: on more and more and more knowledge, but to beg
35:01
Speaker 1: God for his wisdom so that we can make good
35:04
Speaker 1: decisions about our health, about our lives, about all the
35:08
Speaker 1: things that we pursue, but do those from a place
35:11
Speaker 1: of humility, grounded in love, and not out of a
35:14
Speaker 1: place of pride. So thanks for listening today. I hope
35:18
Speaker 1: this whole series has been helpful to you. We've got
35:22
Speaker 1: more coming this month. I did an awesome episode on
35:26
Speaker 1: how to handle seeing your family around the holidays with
35:29
Speaker 1: Travis Stewart, who is a favorite guest from years ago.
35:32
Speaker 1: He's back. So that's coming this month. I've also got
35:36
Speaker 1: a great interview with Emily Gossett. She's done an amazing
35:40
Speaker 1: new book, but she was kind of like one of
35:42
Speaker 1: the original women who wrote about eating disorder stuff years
35:47
Speaker 1: and years ago. And she's a fascinating story that you're
35:50
Speaker 1: going to love to hear. So stick with the show
35:52
Speaker 1: this month. But I hope you've enjoyed this Over the
35:54
Speaker 1: Influence series. Four episodes. If you missed any, go back
35:57
Speaker 1: and listen to them. You can find them all at
35:59
Speaker 1: improvedbodyimage.com slash podcast. You can also go to that page
36:03
Speaker 1: and just type into the search bar any topic that
36:06
Speaker 1: you're interested in. And chances are we've done an episode
36:09
Speaker 1: on it. Hey, I also asked you a few weeks ago,
36:12
Speaker 1: go to SpeakPipe, speakpipe.com backslash compared to who. Leave me
36:17
Speaker 1: your question. I'd love to answer some questions on the show.
36:19
Speaker 1: Haven't really gotten that many in recently, but leave me
36:22
Speaker 1: your question and I'll incorporate that into a future episode.
36:24
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening today. I hope something today has helped
36:26
Speaker 1: you stop comparing and start living. Bye-bye. The Compared to
36:30
Speaker 1: Your Podcast is proud to be part of the Life
36:31
Speaker 1: Audio Podcast Network. For more great podcast, go to lifeaudio.com.