We tend to think the smartest and most intelligent people have the highest IQ and are the wisest. We tend to view wisdom as a high-level cognitive skill, an intellectual destination you reach if you just read enough books or have enough life experience, however we get a rude awakening when realise for a fact that the smartest people might not be the wisest.
This week I re-read this ancient principle in Psalm 111:10 that completely flips this assumption on its head:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
Psalm 111:10
all those who practice it have a good understanding...”
When you strip away the religious language, this isn’t a call to live in terror. In Hebrew, yir’ah refers to profound reverence and awe, the simple realization that you are not the center of the universe and actually in the grand scheme of things, we might be really small and ignorant.
And from a practical, human perspective, that single mindset shift changes everything.
Reverence Frees You From Petty Anxiety
I remember lying down on the ground at night with Pearl at a farm stay in the mid 90s in Australia when we were dating and looking up at the milky way and for the first time felt like a tiny dot as we were just these specks of matter in between our planet and the vast universe.
Human beings are wired for awe. If we don’t anchor ourselves to something infinite and vast, we end up living in awe of finite things: public opinion, career standing, social status, or the exhausting effort to keep every variable of our lives under control.
When you hold ultimate reality in proper reverence, your daily anxieties shrink down to their actual size. The fear of failure, the fear of missing out, or the need for constant validation lose their grip. A healthy sense of awe doesn’t shrink your world; it grounds you so you can step outside your own ego.
Suddenly our perspective change and what seems important in our daily lives, don’t feel so important anymore.
You Can’t Think Your Way Into Wisdom—You Live Into It
The second half of carries a subtle practicality : “… all those who practice it have a good understanding”.
Our modern default is to wait until we fully understand something before we commit to action. We want the full breakdown, the data proof, and the mental model upfront. But human character doesn’t work that way. Insight is often a feedback loop that only starts after you take the step.
You don’t think your way into wise living; you live your way into wise thinking. Generosity only makes sense once you start giving. Lessons only feel real after mistakes were made. Integrity only reveals its real value when it costs you something. Action isn’t just the output of wisdom, it’s the lens that unlocks it.
The Bottom Line
At its core, I feel wisdom isn’t about IQ, it’s a realisation and an alignment.
The moment we stop trying to dictate reality and start aligning with what is true, good, and larger than ourselves, true clarity begins.