Knowledge

1 Now let’s talk about food that has been sacrificed to idols. You think that everyone should agree with your perfect knowledge. While knowledge may make us feel important, it is love that really builds up the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. (1 Corinthians 8:1-2 NLT)

Put simply, the situation here is that some of the believers in the Corinth church said, “I can go to the temples of the Greek gods and eat at the feasts of those idols and it’s no big deal! Those gods aren’t real anyway!” (And they’re right.)

But some new believers who were recently saved out of worshipping those same idol gods, and who were still struggling to get clear on what’s real and what’s not real in the spiritual realm, were being hurt by this “freedom” that the “Know-it-alls” were exercising.

Paul said that if you use your superior knowledge to hurt someone or tempt someone or make them feel inferior, you’ve missed the whole point.

Here are some ways to help, not hurt:

• One way I can keep from hurting others is to realize that I don’t “know it all.”

• Another way is to keep avidly learning – learning from God’s word, learning from life’s experiences, learning from those around me.

• Another way is to care enough to stop and think about how my attitude, words, or actions might affect someone else and adjust accordingly.

It is my hopeful determination and practice to enter every conversation expecting to learn something from the other person!

It’s love, not knowledge, that really helps others and strengthens the church!

Prayer: