It is a fact, that knowledge has a tendency to produce pride. In 1 Cor. 8: 1 the apostle Paul said that: “knowledge puffs up (inflates a man) whereas love builds him up.” There is always a certain danger in knowledge. It tends to make one arrogant. and cause him to look down on one who is not as far advanced as himself. It tends to make him unsympathetic to one whom he regards as ignorant. Thus, the know-it-all attitude is void of love and humility. It makes one vain, conceited, self-asserting, and “thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to think” (Rom. 12: 3). Mere knowledge, without love and humility, fills one with pride, and swells, or puffs up, one with vain self-confidence and reliance on his own powers, and very often leads him astray. Philippians 2: 3-4 says: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind (true humility), let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out, not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Do you see the importance of love and humility?

 

Therefore, it is possible for people to have knowledge, but at the same time, to be “wise in their own conceits” (Rom. 12: 16). Don’t be so wise in your own estimation that you become a know-it-all! Such a person is ever ready to correct others, but lacks love and humility. 2 Timothy 2: 24-26 says: “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captives to do his will.” Let us remember that “God resists the proud (arrogant), but gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4: 6). This even includes those PROUD OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE! Think on these things. 

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Dennis Abernathy