...because i am really smart.

Something i used to do A LOT is argue, quarrel and fight. It is a part of my life that i am not proud of and has been a focus for me lately as i look at the redemptive work the LORD has done in my heart. I used to take pride in my argumentative abilities and assessed the reason i had a knack for debate was because i was a quick wit and really smart. If my B.C. self had said this to my new self, my new self would have to whole heartedly (although lovingly) disagree. I would have to say to myself, Self, please keep in mind that i am not attacking you but the statement. You do not quarrel because you are smart. You quarrel because you are sinful to the core.
This is probably a harsh way to speak to oneself and an argument in itself, but go with me here. ;-)

People do not quarrel because they are smart. People quarrel because they take themselves too seriously. At the heart of most arguments is pride and/or selfishness. James poses the questions, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" (4:1). He is cautioning against corrupt affections, and love of this world, which is enmity to God (vv. 1-10). Regardless if we are quarreling over material things or our our sensitive feelings, all fighting comes from the corruption of our own hearts. Smarts has nothing to do with it (unless you argue that smart people are better at winning arguments; which could be true but then you would be confirming that smart people are more cunning and deceitful).

So basically when my B.C. self said, i quarrel because i am smart, i was actually saying, i am selfish because i am smart or (more accurately) i sin because i am smart. Worded this way, it is more clear to see that we are using said smarts to qualify sin. We do not sin because we are smart, witty, noble or wise; we sin because we are sinful to the core.

As i look at my B.C. self, i am perplexed as to how God would choose me to be an object of His affection. Even as i look at my new self who continues to sin, i am all the more baffled as to how God would still love me. Yet He does. Not out of necessity but because He Is.

A lil' somethin' extra from C.J. Mahaney:

"In the ancient world a father's inheritance was passed along to his son. If a father had no son, he had no heir. Necessitated by this dilemma, a son-less father would search for a suitable son to adopt. This adopted son would become the father's heir.

Now think about this: God had a Son. And not only did the Father have an heir, He had a perfect Heir, a beloved and well-pleasing Heir (see Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22, 9:35; 2 Peter 1:17).

Reflect on this: God had a Son—a perfect Heir.

Which means that under the shadow of the ancient custom:

Your adoption was unnecessary.

My adoption was unnecessary."