Knowledge, Wisdom and Love

-


Scripture:

1Cor. 8:1 ¶ Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
1Cor. 8:2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge;
1Cor. 8:3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Observation:

The people of Corinth were educated and proud of the fact that they all possessed knowledge. Something like standing around and proclaiming your graduate degrees and institutions to one another, this was a pedigree which some of the people of Corinth enjoyed.

But Paul knew that this was also a problem.  Those who had this human knowledge were also tempted to be “puffed up.” Somehow that looks a little bit like someone with their chest out and nose in the air — a bit of arrogance and pride in what they have personally accomplished. This may fill someone up with a bunch of hot air but it does nothing for those around them and that is the crux of the matter. Human knowledge makes the person with that knowledge feel better, but love spills over and makes others feel better.

While Paul doesn’t use the word wisdom here, I think that we’re still on that wisdom track because we get to the point of being known by God. We have wrestled with the idea of having the mind of Christ and again in this passage we realize that we are invited into a deeply personal and intimate relationship with the Holy Trinity. There is this mutual indwelling where we can know the mind of Christ, but also God knows us, and as a result, we are filled with his love.

There is a direct correlation between wisdom and love, for they come from God and result in the betterment of those around us, while knowledge alone puffs us up.

Application:

God’s wisdom lived out in our daily lives will result in love. It’s that plain and simple.

While there is a place for knowledge and education, I believe that Paul was challenging the Corinthians to go to an even deeper place. What would happen if that human knowledge and education were to become submitted to the wisdom and love of God? I believe something synergistic would happen that could be world changing.

If you want to be blown away by a list of world changers, just look at this article, “List of Christian thinkers in science.”

These are world changers, those who have gained incredible amounts of knowledge, but have remained rooted in their relationship with God. Many have developed scientific techniques that have improved the lives of others — for “love builds up.”

We never can get away from God’s love being poured out in and through us. This is God’s plan for his holy people. Human knowledge becomes God’s wisdom when we commune with and are infused by the holy love found in the Trinity.

Prayer:

Lord,  may your love be in me today.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more