Knowledge Wanted Dead Or Alive: How To Balance Seeking Knowledge And Practicing it
“Knowledge not applied and used remains dead and useless usually leading to pride. Knowledge applied leads to wisdom and possibly life and healing”
“Make sure you read your Bible often and study to gain knowledge” still rings in my head after decades of being told this. It was said with a tone that sounded like people were warning me that I would be super bad or at least super open to ‘The Enemy’ leading me astray if I didn’t.
Many of these people who gave me this admonition read their Bibles and knew it better than I know it now. I give them respect for that.
I grew up in a culture that worshiped Bible knowledge. This culture seemed to believe that if they read in detail The Bible, even getting down to trying to use concordances or even learning ancient languages, only then God is pleased with them or others who did this activity with diligence. Then one could possibly make it into God’s Kingdom.
This culture went further in believing that if I could not see what was in The Bible the same way they saw it, then I was deceived, potentially dangerous, or at minimum to be rejected for disagreeing. I still get this attitude thrown at me to this day.
My perception of this culture is that knowledge alone has brought this group of people into the bondage of pride. There is this resounding attitude of, “I know better than you know, and I am right. Listen to me. I have studied it and know more than you.”
I believe that these people are usually well-intentioned. They are trying to please God the best way they know how to make it into His kingdom, and they are trying to save others and get them there too.
I have perceived two “ditches” to gaining knowledge:
1. No balance between learning and applying knowledge
The balance of seeking knowledge and actually applying it for wisdom seems to be missing. Each person only has 24 hours in the day. It is always tricky to know how to prioritize that time across many goals pulling at us. It is very difficult to gain knowledge in book learning or even educational videos and takes time. If one stays constantly in those activities, they usually are ignoring the very important step of actually using that knowledge and practicing, practicing, practicing. If gaining knowledge is uncomfortable, I think gaining wisdom through practicing that knowledge over and over in real-life situations is waaaaaay more difficult. I believe this might be the reason it is avoided. We hate trying to actually do what we know because we know we will be bad at doing it for a looooong time usually while we practice. No one likes to be bad at something in front of others. It is safer to gain knowledge in secret and share it publicly (which many times leads to pride of knowing more than others) than practicing that knowledge in front of others and share our wobbly tries, which usually get ridiculed, put down, laughed at, maybe scolded, and maybe even abused for.
2. Being stuck because of a lack of practice that can lead to true wisdom
Seeking the wrong knowledge makes a mess of one’s life and the lives of others around them. This is inevitable to avoid by anyone. Yes, I do mean that I do this as well as everyone else. We will always be children growing up and coming from a place of not knowing enough to know what to focus our attention on. BUT, those who refuse to at least apply whatever they learn, even if it is not the right knowledge, stay stuck and cannot grow properly in their lives. This is because knowledge not applied has no energy to it to find out if it is good knowledge that works or wrong knowledge that puts one in a “ditch”. You just stay stuck in believing you know what is right because you do not have experiences that show you IF it is right, or if you need to change what you think you know.
You might be saying right now, “Katrina, you have shared the problem. What is the solution?”
Well, the true solution is usually what we humans avoid because often, it means doing uncomfortable things that we want to avoid. But if you want to grow out of pride in just knowing things (I am still growing out of this myself. It takes a loooooong time to grow out of), then one can start climbing out of these “ditches” with these tools:
Focus on the two greatest commandments first.
If you really want to focus on what God REALLY REALLY WANTS, focus on the two (three) greatest commandments first. Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:27. I mean, God did not make them His greatest commandments to us for no reason. And, I say the three greatest commandments because the first commandment is to love God with everything you have and are, and the second has TWO parts - love your neighbor as YOURSELF. If you do not love yourself the way God loves you, then you do not have enough within yourself to love your neighbor properly. I suggest checking out these Scripture references too for those who love to study (smiling with love toward you): 1 John 4:7-21 (I already know that the studiers reading this will try to make a difference between the word ‘brother’ and the word ‘neighbor’. Been there done that ditch personally. This difference really falls flat by some of the other teachings of Jesus added to this idea), Luke 10:25-37.Admit you have pride.
Let me start so you can see it’s safe. People of planet Earth, and the one true God in Heaven who already knows all things, I, Katrina, proclaim out loud for all to hear that I still have pride that God is still trying to get me out of. Pride blinds me and all of us so we cannot even SEE our pride! That means a miracle has to take place to get out from under the curse of pride This is why the Laodeciens were told to pray for salve for their eyes so they could see. I pray this whole section of Scripture over and over on myself and others as Jesus commanded because I know I have unseen pride to be made seen. Read Revelation 3:14-22.Work on where you are NOT loving.
Decide to start WORKING on where you are not loving towards God, yourself, and your neighbors. I promise you, all the other things you think you know will not be pleasing before God and His thrown on The Judgement Day for each of us. If you don’t believe me try this verse out (I do suggest, with much passion and love, reading the whole chapter though). 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Learn to focus every moment that we are ALL the same. No human is lower or higher than any other fellow human being because the very same amount of The Blood was spilled for every single one. That makes us all have the same, very expensive, value. It also makes it ALL His. That means royalty owns it all, which means be careful with what The King owns i.e. everything!
What is God asking us to do?
Um yeah, I am suggesting that if you are stuck in reading The Bible too much and forgot to actually practice what is the main things God wants you to be good at and grow in, namely, faith, hope, and love, where love is the greatest of these things, then you are missing out on focusing on what God really really wants from each of us.
I repeat for myself and for you: Knowledge not applied and used remains dead and useless usually leading to pride. Knowledge applied leads to wisdom and possibly life and healing. (Written by Katrina on Jun 6, 2022.)
I love you enough to share with you this even though I know it is so very hard to hear and then actually put it into practice. But if your life is not working for you and your relationships with God, your other fellow human beings that are in God’s sacred image as you are, and yourself, then this is the way to get unstuck.
It’s going to take years of work at doing things that are not easy to do and being bad at them, only getting better little by little. There are no shortcuts I have found to become more God-like/Christ-like/ready for eternal life. We can do this, my fellow human! We can do it with God’s strength. Your job is to CHOOSE to do it over and over and never give up even if people ridicule you over and over and you do it wrong over and over. Just don’t stop trying. God is good with you being a child learning how to walk in love. We all start out being terrible at it and there is always room to grow more in it all the way to our last breath. I won’t give up on you or me, my fellow human! Love never gives up! Let’s go get our love on together!
We Are Owned By Love,
Katrina
P.S. Consider compassionately sharing this article with those you love who might be inspired and feel better through hearing God has compassion and patience with them.
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