When I was growing up, my dad had a funny phrase: “That wasn’t wise!” He would say it when he’d drop or spill something accidentally, or when one of us would make a mistake. He never yelled, “You’re stupid!” or “I’m dumb!” He simply said: “That wasn’t wise.”

When we heard it, we knew he wasn’t angry at us or himself, but that he wanted to learn from what he’d just done. We never feared my dad’s wrath if we made a mistake because we saw him extend grace every single time a mistake was made.

I don’t know about you, but I know for myself, there are many times when I do something that I wish I hadn’t done. Often, I’m not as gracious at saying, “That wasn’t wise” to myself; I’ll often feel dumb, stupid, or shamed. But God’s design for us is freedom, and our path to freedom can be simplified to this: Chase wisdom.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” When researched, the word used here to fear the Lord means to fear or hold in moral reverence or awe. God doesn’t want to terrorise us; He wants us to recognise His holiness and live in reverent awe that He would love us and grant us this marvellous freedom.

The Bible says in Proverbs 8:17,35 that whoever seeks wisdom diligently will find it. How do you seek wisdom? Simple. James 1:5 says, if we lack wisdom, we can ask God who will give it to us generously.

What does wisdom look like when it shows up in our lives? James 3:17 says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” If you can see an absence of these things in your life, now is the right moment to take just 2 minutes and pray earnestly: “God, I desperately want Your wisdom. Take my terror and replace it with awe of You. Take everything in me that isn’t of You and shape me.”