Well, you know about that tension that Paul talks about in First Corinthians that love builds up, but knowledge puffs up?

It's quite a dilemma, isn't it? I mean, how do you grow in knowledge without growing in pride?

Growing deeper in knowledge without growing in pride is something that's been on your

mind for years, hasn't it, Pastor John? I mean, this is something that you have talked about

many times, even last summer in episode 2079. I remember it. The episode is called The Pitfalls of

being a thinker. Well, we're back to it because a listener named Moses, great name, Moses. Moses is wrestling with this very

dilemma as he packs up for Bible College. Hello, Pastor John. I just want to thank you for how

Ask Pastor John has served my soul in the very darkest times of life, focusing my attention back

on the glory of Jesus Christ. That's wonderful to hear. I have a question regarding preparation.

I'm going off to Bible college soon. I want the Lord

to use this training in my life so that I bear much fruit for him. But with going to Bible

college, I fear that I will become prideful, arrogant, and knowledge reliant instead of relying on the

Holy Spirit. My question for you is this, how do I effectively make it so that everything I learn changes my heart and not just vainly informs my mind?

Let me start with an illustration from my own experience about fighting pride.

When I finished graduate school, and that means finishing 22 years of formal education

between the ages of 6 and 28 without a break, I took a position when all that education was done,

I took a position as a college professor teaching Greek and biblical studies.

At the same time, I published my dissertation and began to write articles for leading journals in the Guild of New Testament Studies. I wanted

to make an impact for the sake of biblical truthfulness. I wanted to make observations from the Bible,

arguments for true interpretations of the Bible to the glory of Christ, so I prayed.

But then the fear arose several years into that teaching and writing life, the fear arose that what Moses, in this question to us,

expresses is a real problem. Namely, am I becoming prideful in my pursuit of publishing? Specifically, am I pursuing the praise of man

...