1 Corinthians 8:2  Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 8:1-3  We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.  (MSG)

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A timely reminder arrived yesterday. “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”

I don’t remember why that quote came to mind, but it certainly fits the context of 1 Corinthians 8, doesn’t it? The Message paraphrase helps us when it says, “sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds.”

It is better to humble ourselves before God and before others than to be humbled, or worse yet, humiliated. Even if you are the smartest person in the room, someone may rebut everything you believe and do so in such a manner as to make you feel small, ignorant, and insignificant. 

“We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.”

Again, this is pure gold. 

Some people act like they are smarter than God. Others settle for being wiser than Solomon.

Speak confidently about something, and people may give you the benefit of the doubt. This works until additional or corrective information is presented. 

Here’s the truth: Some people enjoy their personal preferences to such a degree that they don’t really care what the truth is. They might even call “your truth” archaic. They may declare “their truth” superior for these times in which we live. 

Where do we go from here? We can argue, or we can pray. I don’t care to argue. The loudest mouth tends to win. Truth can take a vacation because it’s most definitely not needed.

Prayer prevents arguments from getting out of hand. It commits those on the other side of the issue to God. He is better at revealing his truth over time than I am in the moment. He speaks the truth in love. His kindness leads to repentance. His mercy is available to even the most belligerent minds. His grace is so amazing that it can convince even hard-core atheists. 

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I will lose any argument if it helps another discover God’s gifts of truth and life.

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Our Father, you alone know it all. There would be no “it” if it weren’t for you. You are the Author and Creator of all good things. Please step into our ignorance and speak the kind truth. Please remove the blinders the evil one places over our eyes. Please draw us out of this present darkness into your eternal light. Amen.