Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Paradox of Wisdom

I've been reading I Corinthians, and it's pretty humbling. Paul talks a great deal in the first few chapters about wordly vs. spiritual wisdom. The wisdom of the world is described as being "foolish" in Chapter 1, verse 20. (This idea is reiterated in 3:19.) Paul goes on to describe how "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise". In Chapter 2, he describes how we as Christians have received spiritual wisdom: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." (2:12).

I like the idea of having access to spiritual wisdom, but the paradox of earthly wisdom being foolish is a tough one for me. Whenever I've felt that I could take pride in nothing else, I've always clung to my intelligence. I can't stand any scenario where I'm made to feel stupid. Ultimately, however, I have to be able and willing to let go of all that, if God is ever really going to use me. After all, the Bible has plenty to say about pride...

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