What is the Spiritual Gift of the Word of Wisdom? (1 Corinthians 12:8)

Wisdom is directive; knowledge is informative.

Wisdom and knowledge are interdependent; however, wisdom needs knowledge upon which to act. Knowledge must be directed by wisdom. Words of wisdom are also associated with the knowledge of Scripture that produces conviction, unanimity, and progress. It opens hearts and opens doors, through timings and direction, for what is needed to the next stage of the journey we are on.

All Spiritual Gifts Flow Together

The wonderful thing is that you will find that all the revelatory gifts of the Spirit can flow through and into one another, especially when you are ministering to another person. What often happens is the word of knowledge, “the revealing of information, primarily past or present in someone’s life” is presented.

Then from that position, the Holy Spirit “the wisdom of God” is given to show how to bring freedom or how to move through the situation to bring clarity and solutions. When this happens, you know the gifts are in operation because this is not known by human means, but purely by a supernatural download from above.

My Definition of a Word of Wisdom in Simple Terms

A word of wisdom is simply the wisdom of God. It is the supernatural impartation of facts, guidance, and solutions. This spiritual gift works in unity and interactively with the other revelatory gifts such as the word of knowledge and the gift of discernment. It is the supernatural solution to trouble or dilemmas. Or it can be as simple as the solution/application required to the “Word of Knowledge” previously received.

A word of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8) will give you the ability to be able to properly apply the knowledge that you may already have on a particular situation. Therefore, we all need words of wisdom from the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. When this wonderful gift is operating, we will know how to handle complex types of problems or issues that occur at a moment’s notice in our own life or the lives of others.

Some Practical Examples

Here are some specific examples where we could receive a word of wisdom directly from the Holy Spirit:

1. Your boss has just given you a new tough assignment and you are not sure how to get the job done properly. You will now need God’s knowledge and wisdom on how to get this new assignment successfully completed.
2. Your finances have taken a major hit due to a crisis and you will now need God’s guidance and wisdom on how to keep yourself out of debt and to get back on track.
3. Someone has given you a list of all their current issues and life problems. You need God’s wisdom to reveal the true state of their situation and give you a hopeful, heavenly, creative solution to give them the confidence to move forward.
4. Your company has been asked to provide a solution to a client with a problem that presently has no answer. You need wisdom on what they have provided you to bring a clear picture to the table of what to do.

As you can see, there are literally an infinite number of possibilities of when you will need God’s wisdom. You are created to be in tune with His Spirit as you take the time to allow Him to speak.

A Personal Experience From My Own Life

I have seen this gift operate several times in my own life. For example, I hit a crisis in my own business back in the UK with a major global corporate client. In my mind, there was no way of gaining the products that I needed to fulfill a very large contract. This happened due to a weather delay in shipping from Canada to the UK.

In the industry I was in, I knew that if I missed the deadline then there would be serious repercussions. I sat nervously at my office desk with my head in my hands thinking about how I am going to get out of this one. Then, all of a sudden, I had a light bulb moment on the inside with a radical idea. Not to bore you with all the details, so I’ll cut a long story short. After getting this revelation, I never missed a beat and was able to bring a short-term solution to the client before the major shipment turned up.

Again, I can tell you now, I was not that intelligent to think of this idea; however, I now know the Holy Spirit has always gone before us all into our futures knowing what we need and when we need it! At the time I thought I was just amazing! LOL. But as time went on, I truly knew this was the wisdom of God being downloaded to me.

We All Need God’s Wisdom

Since our own human intelligence is somewhat imperfect and pretty limited in its ability to apply the “perfect wisdom from above” (James 3:17 NKJV), we all need the wisdom of God flowing through our lives on a regular basis. This will enable us to handle and overcome the many adversities that get thrown our way without any notice.

Be sure to stay tuned. The next spiritual gift we will start to discuss is the Gift of Faith.