We know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. I Corinthians 8:1 ESV)
Puffing
I have had trouble breathing. Asthma, effects of old age, smokey atmosphere, mountain air… these things have all given me difficulty inhaling and exhaling. I wheeze, and snortle, and huff and puff.
And while that huffing and puffing SEEM to help, I am still out of breath. I am still exhausted. I am still short of air. I am still weak.
I do not know if Paul was an asthmatic, but he seems to understand how useless puffing is. Puffing is empty. Puffing is weak. Puffing, while displaying the appearance of help, does nothing.
But Christians, because we have experienced the love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are built up by God instead of puffed up with our own knowledge. Or at least we can be.
We do not need to depend on the puffing of our own knowledge, ability, personality, or spirituality. We get to be built up by God.
We are peculiar, we do not need to puff.