John 17:3
Now this is Eternal Life
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Proverbs 1-1-7
Beginning of Knowledge is Fearing the LORD
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young-
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance-
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
2 Peter 1:1-10
Peter, An Apostle of Jesus
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
John 3:16-17
God LOVES the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Matthew 9:9-13
The Calling of Matthew
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
I might say that knowledge, eternal life, and knowing ourselves better helps us get closer to God...Jesus tells us that eternal life is that we may know God, the Only True God, and the One that He sent...And the writer of Proverbs tells us that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge...St. Peter adds that Jesus' Divine Power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness...Through these things Jesus has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by our own evil desires and sins...
Wisdom and knowledge and eternal life seem to be related...The wisdom we learn through our experiences are increased with our knowledge of God...And since our own personal experiences always include what we are doing, then we might believe that what we know about ourselves and the more we know of God begins and then increases our knowledge of life...And if we believe this, while God is Perfect, we are not...And thankfully, God is very well aware of this as these verses point out...
In our own personal experiences in life, we see how human we are and how we fall short of God's Great Glory...Now this knowledge of ourselves as it increases over time in our lives, might lead us to feeling bad or guilty or one of despair...St. Peter tells us that grace and peace is ours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our LORD...And LOVE overcomes this knowledge of ourselves, so we do not have to condemn and feel guilty about ourselves...So, there is this Great Hope that the more we know about ourselves the more we can see and understand our need for God's LOVE and Him sending us a Savior...And as we read the gospels, Jesus did not come to earth to condemn us but to LOVE, forgive, and help us...This is why He came to earth to help sinners...By knowing ourselves better and the things we do in word and thought and in deed we can better see the LOVE God has for us...Because not only did God send Jesus to help us, God send Him to die for us on the cross for our experiences and the things we have done...