knowledge, pride, and the Holy Spirit
1 Cor. 8:1b-2: Knowlede puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
It seems that as one starts to learn more spiritually, one of two things happen. They often become proud of what all they have learned, making a little of a false spiritual identity for themselves of what all they know, and cheapen the walk with God to nothing more than to a competition to show how bright they are.
Or:
They realize that just learning is only the beginning. To be able to apply what they know becomes more and more increasingly impossible. They realize just how dependent they are on God's Spirit to apply any of it, because they realize just how powerless they are to walk experientially in daily life in what they have learned. To walk in 1 Cor. 13 variety of love, to walk in humility, purity in heart and motives, etc. just to name a few things are ridiculously impossible to live in on one's own. Therefore, the knowledge they have gleaned becomes the way for the Spirit's power to be used coming through them, so that they may better reflect and minister to those around them.
I'm pretty sure I've done both of these before. God, let me live consistently in the latter!
1 Cor. 4:7b "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"
It seems that as one starts to learn more spiritually, one of two things happen. They often become proud of what all they have learned, making a little of a false spiritual identity for themselves of what all they know, and cheapen the walk with God to nothing more than to a competition to show how bright they are.
Or:
They realize that just learning is only the beginning. To be able to apply what they know becomes more and more increasingly impossible. They realize just how dependent they are on God's Spirit to apply any of it, because they realize just how powerless they are to walk experientially in daily life in what they have learned. To walk in 1 Cor. 13 variety of love, to walk in humility, purity in heart and motives, etc. just to name a few things are ridiculously impossible to live in on one's own. Therefore, the knowledge they have gleaned becomes the way for the Spirit's power to be used coming through them, so that they may better reflect and minister to those around them.
I'm pretty sure I've done both of these before. God, let me live consistently in the latter!
1 Cor. 4:7b "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"
posted by Seltzer at 9:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home