Gaining perspective is a rigorous task assigned to all of us at birth. Many choose to put this duty on the back burner for the majority of their lives. After all, living comfortably in unchallenged ideologies is much easier than stepping out of our comfort zone to explore the reality that others live day in and day out. Placing a focus on perspective perfectly encapsulates the correct connotation of the word scholar.

Being a scholar far exceeds book-smarts and straight A’s. Cultivating an astonishing knowledge of a subject as a whole is imperative to excelling or gaining wisdom in any specific area. True knowledge must extend so much further than the head knowledge that society demands and expand the perspective instilled in us by the beautiful grace Jesus constantly extends. To be a true scholar, we must show the grace Jesus so selflessly gave us to others by stepping outside of ourselves and into an outlook we have never before explored. Head knowledge has to become heart knowledge through extensive experience, excavating the old foundation of our essence and planting a new, more understanding one.

Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes needs to extend past its figurative realm and come alive in our hearts. Desiring to be with people to discover why they carry certain beliefs releases an inner understanding that gives insight into a subject that a book never could. Removing preconceived notions in order to achieve a more accurate comprehension of others is a task unaccomplishable in our worldly lives. However, as Christians, we are called to unceasingly chase after the example Jesus set for us during His three-year ministry on earth.

The Bible constantly points us back to Jesus as a source of true wisdom. By consistently pursuing the same understanding Jesus became human to pursue, we begin to understand the whole point of scholarship. By yearning to possess the empathy Jesus demonstrated, we begin to grasp the true wisdom found in simply listening to others. By chasing Jesus’s incomparable wisdom, we are able to lose the complacency we often carry, a complacency that has no place in our walk to be more like our amazing and all-powerful Savior.

We can either let our desire for intelligence be watered by the world or by the Word. By choosing the latter, we are committed to a life-long search for perspective, searching to acquire an improved understanding in order to empathize with the people God places in our lives. Constantly craving to see people through the eyes of Jesus is the only earthly way to come close to being a scholar.

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