I knew some brilliant people in high school.  They made good grades and graduated without even trying.  They went to good colleges and got impressive degrees.

I also knew some people in high school who struggled with grades.  Try as they might, they fought to make it to graduation day.  Some went to community college and then finished their bachelor’s degree at another local school with unimpressive grades.

Today, I see success and failure in both the brilliant and the average.  The difference between success and failure is often wisdom.  I’ll take wisdom over intelligence every day.

Wisdom or Just Intelligence

The Brilliant and The Average

In both groups, there are people who are happily married, are well respected, are raising great kids, and are successful in their chosen professions.  Both groups also have people who have unfortunate lives filled with poor decisions, damaged relationships and dead end careers.

We are all born with varying degrees of intelligence.  There are multiple tests that we can take to determine our ability to learn.  We assume that children who test well on IQ and other exams will lead a fruitful life.  But, the ability to learn rarely predicts a fruitful life.  Intelligence is different from wisdom.

Smart people are everywhere.  Today’s youth have more access to information and are probably the most intelligent generation our world has ever known.

When I taught high school guys Sunday school class I often said- There aren’t many stories in the Bible about wise young men.

Two Things The Wise Have

1.  Experience

Most wisdom comes from experience.  I believe wisdom is knowledge applied.  Just because I have information in my brain means nothing.  I must do something with that knowledge.

When I do something with that knowledge, things will not always go my way.  I have learned more in my life through my failures than I have through my successes.  I have had plenty of both.  But, I truly believe it was my failures that made my successes possible.

The reason I told my high school guys it was difficult to be a wise young man was because they hadn’t had enough years on this earth to truly screw things up and learn from those mistakes.

The longer God allows me to stay around, the more opportunities I will have to fail – and grow wiser.  Intelligence without experience will not make any of us wise.

2.  Willingness

To become wise, we must be willing to learn. Some of us need to open up our eyes and others of us need to shut down our pride.  

Some people will do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.  Others will let their pride get in the way and refuse to admit they don’t have all the answers.

Wise people always look for a better way to do things.  They are not content with the current situation and know things could be better.  I had a boss teach me to think, “Even better if…” when I looked at everything.  Wise people see the growth opportunities everywhere.

Wise people are humble enough to receive criticism.  They view themselves realistically.  They know they are fallible.  When a wise person receives criticism, they ignore the delivery, if needed, and focus on the content.  The wise want to get better because the wise are sure they need to be better.

Intelligence without experience is a sign of immaturity.  Intelligence without the willingness to learn is a character flaw. 

The Bottom Line:

Wisdom can come from the brilliant person and from the average person.  Intelligence is not a prerequisite for wisdom, experience and willingness to learn are.

I have watched plenty of smart people make really stupid decisions.  I have been one of those people!  The intelligence I had before and after those decisions didn’t change.  But with each bad decision, if I was willing to learn, my level of wisdom did change.

Question:

Who do you know who is brilliant but is without wisdom?  Who do you know who seems of average intelligence but is truly wise?