1 Corinthians 8:1 - Air you don't need

When I was a boy, breakfasts were predictable.

Eggs on Sunday, sometimes with homemade cinnamon rolls. Better than any bakery!

Weekdays was for oatmeal or Cream of Wheat. Mom would pour it in bowls, top it with a pat of butter, a splash of milk, and put a saucer on top to keep it warm until we came to the kitchen for breakfast. This was the same in summer as well as winter. She said, "You need to eat something that will stick to your ribs!"

Saturdays we could splurge and have basic cold cereal: corn flakes, Wheaties, Cheerios. We kept begging her to let us have cold cereal during the week, even if we had to add our own sugar. So she took a bowlful of dry Cheerios, put it in a blender, and reduced it to sawdust. "See... that's all that you're putting in your stomach. It's all air." End of discussion.

The same was said for cotton candy. I think I may have been in my 20's before I even tried the stuff. My parents were right. It was all air!

Several times, Paul talks about people who are "all air." 

"Knowledge puffs up; but love builds up." (1 Corinthians 8:1, New International Version)

The word "puffed up" is sometimes translated "arrogant," but "puffed up" is the literal meaning. It's being inflated with self-importance (Colossians 2:18). Think of a rooster, strutting around with its chest puffed out. Or someone "full of hot air." (See also 1 Cor 4:6, 4:18-19, 5:2) 

By contrast, "Love is not puffed up." (1 Corinthians 13:4, NET Bible)

I won't say that we should all be like a bowl of oatmeal, but I can pray...

Lord, when we're tempted to make ourselves look bigger than we really are, knock the hot air out of us. Make us people of substance, people who are solid and dependable because we are people becoming like Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

PS - So why do I like carbonated drinks so much? ;-)