More Questions, Less Answers

1 Corinthians 8:2 ~ If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

This verse was my humble undoing this morning. I have found myself in week three already panicking over grades for graduate school.  I sat here at my desk this morning and poured out the ugliness of my heart attitude to Jesus.  I confessed that I had already broken my vow to myself to seek excellence, not perfection.  I want to truly LEARN, not go through the motions for the sake of a grade. I must be willing to humble myself and admit that I do not know.

The truth is, I am a recovering 'know it all'.  Now some may say that I haven't recovered enough, but that's a blog for another day. ;)  I was one of those who hated to ask a question for fear of looking stupid.  Little did I realize that by not asking, I confirmed that I was. A dear friend of mine, after assessing the downward spiral anothers life was taking, made a profound assessment: too many answers, not enough questions.  It perfectly described the situation.  Too many times, we believe we have correct answers, when in fact, we couldn't be farther from the truth.  Sad truth is, that could be said about portions of my life.

I see this in all stages of life.  Young adults who think that they are far brighter than anyone around them, middle-agers who think that because they've walked a few more miles that they have more  answers, elderly who think the other two groups are completely clueless.  However, the truth of this Scripture drills it down to this point...we ought to be asking far more questions than giving out answers.

Believers in Jesus Christ, this is especially true of us.  It's so easy when we get a bit of the Bible under us to get in over our heads with 'counseling' others.  We use lofty jargon or pat 'christianese' answers to address them. Sometimes we are guilty of beating others up carelessly with the Word, without giving a moment's thought to whether this really answers their need.  The verse today should remind us that we must be very careful with our words, understanding that we may (probably) don't know as much as we think we do.  I know I have been guilty of this so many times that it makes me cringe.  So thankful that He is changing me, little by little!

Heavenly Father, thank you for your not so gentle reminder today that knowledge puffs up.  Thank you for reminding me that I don't know nearly what I need to and that it is only by submitting to You and Your Word that I will really understand anything at all.  Please remind me daily to ask more questions than to give out answers.