Puffed Up: Part One

Pride rarely looks like rebellion; it often looks like momentum, gifting, and confidence that quietly forgets grace. We take a wide-angle view of 1 Corinthians and follow Paul’s throughline—being “puffed up”—to reveal how ego fuels division, moral compromise, and spiritual one‑upmanship. Instead of building doctrine on symptoms, we track how Paul diagnoses the root and prescribes a counterintuitive remedy: love that builds people, not platforms.

We unpack why a resource‑rich, talented church like Corinth drifted into arrogance, how prosperity can feel like God’s approval while eroding dependence on grace, and why celebrity loyalties (“of Paul,” “of Apollos”) still fracture communities today. You’ll hear personal stories about hidden roots behind visible struggles, the dangers of mistaking education for wisdom, and the difference between guardians who manage behavior and spiritual fathers who grow faith. Along the way, we revisit the thorny topics—sexual immorality, discipline, and spiritual gifts—not to score points but to restore posture: knowledge without love inflates, and love without truth isn’t love at all.

At the center stands 1 Corinthians 13 as Paul’s surgical tool. Love is patient and kind, refuses to parade itself, does not keep score, and never rejoices in wrongdoing. Set against the ego’s need to be right or admired, love becomes the only environment where gifts edify and unity thrives. If you’ve ever felt the pull to treat spiritual “bunions” while ignoring your gait, this conversation offers a better path: receive again what you did not earn, let grace reframe success, and choose love over leverage.

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