“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” (1Cor 13:9-10NIV)
What does Paul mean here? Well, he means exactly what he says, which is that we all know in part. In other words, none of us knows everything there is to know in life, regardless of how much we may think we know. That being the case, we should never act like we know it all.
See, even if we are the wisest among men, we still don’t know all there is to know about life, not even to talk about knowing all there is to know about God. That is why Solomon, in his wisdom, says, “Then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.” (Eccl 8:17NIV)
Did you see that? Life is too much for any of us to completely comprehend. Yes, through the aid of the Spirit of God in us, each of us can know all that he needs to know to make sense out of living. But to know everything about life is beyond any of us. That perfection in knowledge will not come to us in this age but in the age to come that we are looking forward to.
Therefore, as I said before, we should never act like we know it all. That is the beginning of foolishness. Instead, first, we should learn to recognize our areas of inadequacy in knowledge. In other words, I must constantly know what I do not know and accept that I do not know it.
Of course, that I do not know something does not mean that I need to know it. I mean that it is not all knowledge that is useful to me. So, I don’t need to waste my time pursuing any form of knowledge that is useless or unprofitable to me. But if I must gain sufficient useful or needed knowledge in life, the key is to know what I do not know and accept that I do not know it. Otherwise, if demands should be made on me on the basis of what I assume or pretend to know, failure and disgrace are what will naturally follow.
The second way to respond to the fact that we know in part is to make effort to perfect our inadequacy in knowledge. That means instead for us to remain ignorant of what we need to know, whatever it may be, we should look out for those who know it and make effort to learn from them.
Yes, that may cost us something. True knowledge always costs people something. That is why many don’t make effort to perfect their inadequacy in knowledge. They are looking at how much they may end up paying for it. But it is not in all cases that knowledge costs money. There are times that all that it will cost us is humility, patience or (and) self-discipline. And if we are willing to pay the price, we will know what we need to know to move from where we are to where we should be.
Mind you, ignorance is also costly. In fact, a lot of times, it is costlier than knowledge. So, don’t keep yourself ignorant about God or about life, when and where you can learn and perfect your knowledge. Otherwise, you may end up being the enemy that will keep you stagnant for life.
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