The More I Know, Shows How Little I Know

We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.

1 Cor 8:1b-3

These words are spoken by one of the most educated men in the early church. Paul had sat at the feet of one of the most accomplished and acclaimed rabbis of his time. Paul was not a man that struggled to speak on an intellectual level. He did not feel like at community college kid @ a Harvard debate. Rather, he would have been the Einstein in amongst the Gomer Pyle's. Yet he says, "The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know". Paul had been made aware that people that put all their eggs in one basket (knowledge) with no regard to God, had only produced an inflated ego and maybe a few diplomas. These men (at that time in culture, we could definitely add women to this list) had thought they had figured out life, yet in their figuring it had pushed them further and further away from the truth. Through Paul's conversion and sanctification he had seen that love had much greater worth. Love is God centered, others centered, and therefore, is able to build each other up. Paul is not saying that education is worthless, but he is saying it is incomplete. Scripture tells us that God is able to confound the wise, yet reveal mysteries to children. Paul is saying the most important thing is love, that is God focused and others focused.

Intelligence and education has always been a struggle for me, as far as pride goes. I grew up as a son of a single mother, on welfare, and living in government housing (the projects for the small town people:). So I could never match the other kids for material things, but I always was in the top of my class when test came back. This has been true my whole life. This was how I said "I'm as good as any of you". This was what put the chip, no boulder, on my shoulder. If I was smart enough, that meant I was good enough. God has worked, and is working on me in this. Yes, education is very important to me. It did allow me many more opportunities than many of the people that grew up in similar situations. I will start my master's this fall, and my goal is to attain a doctorate before it is all said and done. However, all this pales in comparison to what the love of God did to my life and is doing in my life. It gave me direction, worth, and power. Knowledge is inconsequential without the knowing the love of God and giving that love to others. Education can't teach us how to love, it can't teach us the fullness of God, it can't teach us our worth, & it can't teach us our dreams and hopes. Only God's love can do that!

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me, even if I did/sometimes do have a boulder on my shoulder. Lord I lay my educational desires in your hands, and ask you God to keep teaching how much I still have left to learn. Bound by Your Love, Amen.