The trouble with self-improvement

“We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. -1 Corinthians 8:1  

The things that supposedly make us better tend to make us seem superior in comparison to others. Superior and inferior cannot exist without each other. A healthier body due to a well-planned diet and the discipline for exercising supposedly makes us look and feel better than the obese.

The more of something we acquire, the more confident we get and the more likely we are to look down on those who do not have it in an equal measure. Education, money and others are just like muscles. As they say; knowledge is power so the more you have the better- ie the more superior. Money is power in the same manner. The PhD holder is intellectually taller/stronger/more capable in comparison to the high school graduate in the same manner the billionaire is financially stronger than the pauper.

For these haves, what they have acquired tends to be the source of their security. They will feel weak without it and because of that they fight hard to hold onto it. Even if they don’t flaunt, they show their muscles when it becomes necessary. At that moment, everyone caves in a give way.

The Bible teaches that knowledge puffs up. It makes a person proud with a sense of superiority. Shockingly this puffing knowledge also includes knowledge about God. Power they say is nothing without control. So that the power we acquire is useful only to the extent to which it is subjected to love. Paul’s point was in reference to food for idols of course; but what can be deduced is the underlying idea of pride that power breeds. Those who acquire must therefore realize that love is their only safety and love is of God. One must be more dependent on God than his personal strength.