1 Corinthians 4:7

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it (KJV)

Then: These three questions must preside during any self-evaluation. Presented rhetorically, Paul expects all answers to reveal the insufficiency of those questioned and the abiding greatness, sufficiency and benficence of the Lord. Without him, none would have anything. The obvious conclusion is that pride in anything but the Lord himself is worthless.

Now: We live with the same questions, but tend to ignore them. We claim all honors as if our desperate prayers for passing a test, getting a job finished, or overcoming difficulty had never been proffered. We conveniently don't think about all that the Lord had to do to make work available, put people with necessary skills in our lives, or organize our schedules to be in the right place at the right time. Instead we extol and brag (mentally and audibly) for our own little part in a success and raise it above the work of others. We need to return to the questions listed here. Why do we take pride as if it had not come to us from the Lord in heaven?

1 Corinthians 4:6

And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another (KJV)

Then: In a quick bridge, Paul crosses from thoughts about himself and Apollos to the spiritual perils of the Corinthians. Everything he said before was really directed to their own souls that they might not be "puffed up" or filled with pride. Needle prick? No - a spike pounder! Paul actually says he used a figure of speech, an illustration of himself and Apollos, to teach the point. Now that it's in their minds, they need to perform self-examinations. He does make the aplication a little easier by telling them it was for their sake (Morris, p. 74).

Now: It's always easier to watch the teaching of someone else, to agree and affirm the need for the action. Sometimes in sermons, the teaching seems to apply to others much more than to oneself. But never fear, when the time comes, the Lord will let you know how much we also needed the principle or knowledge or wisdom.

Extra source: The First epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: an introduction and commentary by Leon Morris (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdman's Press, 2002) online http://books.google.com/books?id=lNc0AYIqQvAC&dq=Corinthians+Morris&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=NwNTeWfd4I&sig=XgqcdeZIJ7jIfOrxTT7PUqQqo_4&hl=en&ei=F-MkS82TPIvWlAfW55D-CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAwQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false