The Fear of the Lord is The Beginning of Emotional Intelligence.

Fear of God is the first official studio album by industrial band Deitiphobia, who had been known as Donderfliegen up until that time. It was originally released in late 1991 by Blonde Vinyl. 

What's missing from the discussion about Emotional Intelligence?  God is. 

Solomon writing Proverbs (Gustave Doré).  Proverbs 9:10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."

We suggest that what is missing in the wisdom model presented is the acknowledgement of God or a divine Other to whom an individual can be personally related.  A major corrective to the model is found in Proverbs 9:10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."  To fear, or to have awe or respect, of God is presented as the foundation upon which all other wisdom is based.

Jesus Christ is God's Wisdom

Christ crucified , Diego Velázquez

The subject of wisdom in the Bible is primarily dealt with in the Old Testament wisdom books (Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes)  and in certain parts of the New Testament, most notably writing that centers on "Jesus Christ who is God's wisdom and who reveals it to us" (Goldsworthy, 1987, p. 16).  As the fulfiller of the Olt Testament, only Jesus Christ can provide an  understanding of the full meaning of the wisdom books of the Old Testament.

Biblical Wisdom is not just knowledge of what is good and right but also putting that knowledge into practice

Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders.  This parable compares building one's life on the teachings and example of Jesus to a flood-resistant building founded on solid rock.

The word wisdom (or to be wise) is used over four hundred times in the Bible.  While many of these refer to knowledge of what is good and right, mnany also refer to how a person is to practically live out that knowledge.  In Scripture, making the right decision and living the right way is linked with wisdom.  Note, for example, Matthew's parable of the wise and foolish builders (Gospel of Matthew 7:24-29).  While a wise man builds his house upon a rock, the foolish man builds his house upon the sand.  The wise person "hears these words of mine and acts on them ... [But] everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand" (verse 24 nad 26).  Although Matthew begins by associating wisdom as knowledge, he quickly adds that no on eis wise unless they put that knowledge into practice.  Thus Baltes and Freund's assertion that wisdom includes the two components of knowledge and practical abilities comports very well with a biblical perspective on wisdom.

God has turned "worldly wisdom" into foolishness.  Wordly wisdom is actually foolishness because it cannot put man in touch with reality by bringing him to God.

Descent from the Cross, depicted by Rubens

Outside of the Gospels, 1 Corinthians 1-2 most directly addresses the issue of wisdom.  The heeart of the Corinthian passages can be summed up in 1 Corinthians 1:20: "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"  We could wrongly conclude that Paul is discounting the value of any "worldly wisdom."  In truth, all of us have absorbed and depend on much "worldly wisdom" in our daily living.  The wisdom described in Balte's model is valuable, those who have more of it are better off than those who have little.  Goldsworthy (1987, p. 31) helps us understand the difference between such worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom by summarizing Paul's assertions on the two kinds of wisdom mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1-2.

First, Paul says that the gospel would be emptied of its power if he were to preach it with eloquent worldly wisdom (1:17).  This is because the wisdom of the world judges this gospel, the message of the cross, to be foolishness (1:18).  Such wisdom is therefore doomed to perish (1:19).  Wordly wisdom is actually foolishness because it cannot put man in touch with reality by bringing him to God (1:20-21a).  God's way of salvation through the preaching of Christ curcified is an offense to the Jews and stupidity to the Greeks, yet it is both the power and wisdom of God (1:18-24).  So, that which the unbelieving world calls foolishness is in fact wiser than the wisdom of the world (1:25).  Paul avoids the wisdom which the world sees as superior and persuasive, and centers his whole message of Christ crucified (2:1-4).  He does this in order that faith might rest, not in man's wisdom, but in God's power (2:5).  Paul's wisdom is wisdom from God which is taught by the Spirit of God (2:6-13).  He who does not have the Spirit of God will never see this true wisdom for what it is (2:14-16).

While wordly wisdom has meaning in a limited sense, God's wisdom has meaning in an ultimate sense

Truth and Wisdom assist History in writing by Jacob de Wit, 1754

To Paul worldly wisdom has meaning in a limited sense, but if falls short of God's wisdom, which has meaning in an ultimate sense.  Paul is not saying there is no value to wrodly wisdom, only that it fails to answer the ultimate questions of what the meaning and purpose is to life.  The cultimation of biblical wisdom is seen in the person and life of Jesus Crhsit, who was wholly God and wholly human.  Jesus Christ modeled wisdom as knowlege and how to put it into practice in daily living and interaction with others.  Even though Baltes's model (Paul B. Baltes (1939 – 2006) was a German psychologist) of wisdom is limited, it is valid to the extent that it is modeled by the humanity of Jesus.  Thus we find that the "wordly" model of wisdom comports very well with a biblical view of wisdom.

Aging makes you wiser

Old Woman Dozing by Nicolaes Maes (1656). 

While the development of wisdom comes with aging, it is a process that goes on throughout the entire life span.  Hopefully, the end of midlife is accompanied by the recognition of others that one is becoming wise.  Where there have been barriers to the development of wisdom, the mere passage to the elderly years is no guarantee that a person will become wise.  Where the beginning of wisdom has emerged, the elderly years can be a time when the more routine and material concerns of life can be put aside in favor of a life in which the further development of wisdom can flourish. 

Source: Balswick, Jack O., Pamela Ebstyne King, and Kevin S. Reimer, The Reciprocating Self: Human Development in Theological Perspective, locations 2715 to 2745.