Knowing Isn’t Enough
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. —1 Corinthians 8:1 (NKJV)
The Christian walk is progressive. Once we’re saved, by placing our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the journey begins. We grow from that point onward until we’re finally with the Lord, face to face, in Heaven. And how exactly do we grow?
Among other things, we grow in our knowledge of spiritual things. But here’s a reality the Word warns us about: When we grow in our knowledge, there’s an inherent danger of being “puffed up” (or pride-filled) by that knowledge.
It sounds like a contradiction. You would think that the more knowledge we acquire about God, the more we would be like God. However, knowledge on its own is not enough to make us more like the Lord. It has to be accompanied by God’s unconditional love, which the Holy Spirit produces in us (Romans 5:5).
If we need any proof of this, all we have to do is look at the Pharisees from Jesus’ day. These men had more knowledge about the Hebrew Scriptures than anyone. They knew each book verbatim and made a career out of “knowing.” They had a ton of knowledge but lacked God’s love, and they became blinded by pride. “We know everything there is to know, so how dare anyone try and teach us anything!” And the sad fact is that when the Son of God came to show them what they were missing, they were too proud to receive anything from Him.
Again, knowledge is a good and necessary thing in the Christian life. But knowledge apart from God’s love is a very dangerous thing, which is why we’re warned to do more than just know. We’re told that if we want to have a positive impact and edify others, we must also love.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking your spiritual knowledge is enough. Pray that you possess God’s love in proportion to what you know about Him.
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. —1 Corinthians 8:1 (NKJV)
The Christian walk is progressive. Once we’re saved, by placing our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the journey begins. We grow from that point onward until we’re finally with the Lord, face to face, in Heaven. And how exactly do we grow?
Among other things, we grow in our knowledge of spiritual things. But here’s a reality the Word warns us about: When we grow in our knowledge, there’s an inherent danger of being “puffed up” (or pride-filled) by that knowledge.
It sounds like a contradiction. You would think that the more knowledge we acquire about God, the more we would be like God. However, knowledge on its own is not enough to make us more like the Lord. It has to be accompanied by God’s unconditional love, which the Holy Spirit produces in us (Romans 5:5).
If we need any proof of this, all we have to do is look at the Pharisees from Jesus’ day. These men had more knowledge about the Hebrew Scriptures than anyone. They knew each book verbatim and made a career out of “knowing.” They had a ton of knowledge but lacked God’s love, and they became blinded by pride. “We know everything there is to know, so how dare anyone try and teach us anything!” And the sad fact is that when the Son of God came to show them what they were missing, they were too proud to receive anything from Him.
Again, knowledge is a good and necessary thing in the Christian life. But knowledge apart from God’s love is a very dangerous thing, which is why we’re warned to do more than just know. We’re told that if we want to have a positive impact and edify others, we must also love.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking your spiritual knowledge is enough. Pray that you possess God’s love in proportion to what you know about Him.
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