God's Word tells us that knowledge is important. (Fools hate knowledge, according to Proverbs 1:22.) It's a spiritual cop-out to say, "Well, the anointing will accomplish everything I need to accomplish."

If you're interested in growing to the maximum capacity you have in God, you're going to have to increase what He has to work with. You should always be learning. Some sort of schooling is a healthy thing for everybody. It doesn't have to be formal, however. You don't have to be enrolled in the college downtown.

Formal education is a wonderful thing if it is available to you, but however you do it, learning and expanding your knowledge base is a direct contributor to your ability to handle complexity.

An important factor, according to much of the secular world, that aids in increasing your ability to handle complexity is the exercise of your mental capacities. As you do hard analytical work - as you go through the logical processes that bring you to valid conclusions - you're increasing your mental faculties.

Do as much reading as you can. Be widely read, not only for the purpose of acquiring relevant knowledge but also for stimulating thought.

Challenge your mind. Work problems and solve puzzles. Problem-solving is an excellent method of exercising that gray matter between your ears. And exercise is the right word. Your brain is just like a muscle. If it lies dormant too long, it gets weak.

I believe there are far too many people in the body of Christ who have said, "Well, it's the Lord, and it's the anointing. So I don't need training or education." This is wrong thinking and unfortunate.

You must give God something to work with. Of course, He does use the foolish things of the world - I'm an example of that! But that doesn't mean you have to stay willfully ignorant.

Source: Positioned For Promotion by Mac Hammond
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers