Winning souls and wisdom

Proverbs 11:30: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (KJV)

The wisest thing a believer can ever do is lead a soul to salvation through faith in Jesus. Besides the eternal life that one soul receives, how many other lives can be impacted for God’s kingdom through that one person; we can never know this side of heaven. Conversely, the Septuagint translation of this part of the verse reads, “the souls of transgressors are cut off before their time” (CAB, Brenton), showing the urgency, as well as the wisdom, in winning souls for Jesus.
“Those that would win souls have need of wisdom to know how to deal with them; and those that do win souls show that they are wise,” observes Matthew Henry. But in doing this, believers will also draw from the wisdom of God for other areas of our walk with Him, including dealing with our own challenges and in giving biblically-based guidance to others. When we draw on the Spirit of Wisdom (Isaiah 11:2) by winning souls for God’s kingdom, that wisdom cannot help but spill over into other areas of our hearts and minds.