Have Good Common Sense
Common sense must be important since we are commanded to beg God for it (Proverbs 2:3, CEV). As Proverbs 8:5 (HCSB) indicates, it comes from the Lord and must be developed (Proverbs 8:14, LB). It is a result of revering the Lord, trusting Him, and obeying Him. The result of having God’s common sense is His blessing, commendation, preservation, and more grace (Proverbs 13:14, CJB). No wonder, then, that Paul rebuked the Galatians (3:1, Barclay) for not using their common sense.
Yet, there is also a ‘common sense’ that is worldly and false. Like the worldly wisdom of James 3, it, too, masquerades for what comes from the Lord. This is why Festus could attribute belief in Christ’s resurrection to a lack of common sense. Festus was using the wrong kind of common sense to evaluate Paul’s message. Don’t we often do the same thing? We use worldly wisdom and worldly common sense to assess God’s ways and, so, declare His ways to be too risky, too bizarre, too costly, too unworkable. We need to fear Him enough to walk in “faith-inspired obedience” (Romans 1:5). Then, we will have more of the mind of Christ, applied by the Holy Spirit, with the result being God’s wisdom and God’s common sense.
Comforting others is costly but worth it.