Pride and being a Bible know-it-all: Why this is not what God wants for us after coming into a knowledge of Him

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"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Colossians 1:9-10

God deems it serious business for believers to grow in wisdom and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 says, "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." God makes wisdom readily available to us all and desires that through Christ we all grow in knowing God more, but the more we learn about God, the more we realise just how much of Him we do not understand.

It's such a terrible assumption to think that we can understand God, but man has always been in the quest to fully explain God. But understanding God with our limited human reasoning is like trying to fit an entire ocean in a small glass of water. We can never understand God fully.

Increasing in the knowledge of God should drive us into humility as we understand just how limited we are, not turn us into religious know-it-alls who use knowledge to Lord over those who are not at our level of understanding. God makes no caste system in His kingdom. In fact, the more you have, the more he requires you to help others and that applies to our knowledge of God.

You have probably encountered a Bible know-it-all or have struggled with being one at one point, and you know how dangerous it can be to you and to people around you. In our fallen state, we can turn something as blessed as wisdom and knowledge and use it for our selfish motives. As we grow more in wisdom, God gives grace to us allowing us to be used to bless others instead of acting like "super Christians."

Growing in our knowledge of God serves one purpose and Colossians 1:10 tells us that purpose: "so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him." Ultimately growing in our knowledge of God should magnify Him and not us. When the knowledge of God becomes an avenue for us to showcase our proficiency of scriptures, then we have terribly missed the point.

The more we know about God, the more we see how mighty, holy, loving, gracious and majestic He is and as a result, He becomes exalted. The knowledge of God should awe us enough to obey His commands and to love and bless others with that knowledge of God as an outflow of the revelation that we receive.

How much do you know about God today? What do you do with that knowledge? Do you exalt yourself with your wisdom and knowledge or exalt God?