Knowledge Puffs Up; Love Builds Up...

Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.  The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But the man who loves God is known by God.

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

As we go through life accumulating knowledge on different subject matters; we are reminded today that the greatest thing we must learn to do is to love… The main difference between knowledge and love is that knowledge is shown predominately by what you say and love is something which is demonstrated by your actions… This is why our set of focus verses starts off by saying knowledge puffs up but love builds up… Knowledge centers around the individual whereas love centers around the individual’s ability to build themselves up through the building of another… We have to be about building up each other instead of trying to accumulate knowledge that we can use to better ourselves or our appearance to others… Knowledge is one of the most deceptive downfalls of a Christian, this is not to stay you are to be dumb, but that you must apply your knowledge in a way that God can use it and be exalted and not allow knowledge to lead you down a road of being conceited and separated from the will that God has devised for you… Paul writes this letter to the Church of Corinth speaking from his own experiences… It’s imperative that we remember who Paul was (originally Saul) and how he persecuted the church of “the way…” It was the knowledge that puffed up inside him and led him to conducting acts that were not of God… We must be careful of the things that serve as tools of motivation in our lives… Our hearts desire must be pleasing God; however, for many of us this desire take root in trying to up one another through pride and ego’s… Jesus came to this earth and served mankind; make no mistake about it, He was better and superior to mankind but He still humbled Himself and fulfilled the need that mankind had… Today, take a lesson from Jesus and read these verses recorded in Paul’s letter, learn to humble yourself and serve the needs of others… The best way to humble yourself is to not give way to thinking you not everything or that you can’t learn from somebody else… Paul says, “The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know…” You can never become complacent in your learning nor can you think that people can only learn from you… We must have a burning desire to study God’s word continually and grow with Him… I use the word burning because this fire cannot be put out!  You can’t allow the enemy to trick you nor can you allow the enemy to trap you or ensnare you by believing that you have reached the level in which God has called you too reach… Again, Paul thought he was there, but on the Damascus road he realized that he had so much more work to do… I firmly believe that every day you see on this earth is because there are new heights for you to reach and new bridges for you to cross…

When your focus and the motives of your actions are centered around impressing others you begin to inflate a (n) ego within yourself that actually will end with you pushing others away; on the contrary, when you are about love you humble yourself and create avenues in which others may get closer to you… Through love we build each other up and exalt one another, when we are about knowledge we leave others behind and create a (n) atmosphere of me, myself and I… Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth reminds us today of the importance of remaining humble and seeking the word and will of God! He draws a very sharp distinction between knowledge and love; often times we look at knowledge and it causes us to feel “puffed up” or boastful about the degrees and other achievements we have, in a spiritual since knowledge can cause us to look down on others and act as if we are “holier than thou…” People in the church of Corinth had begun to take this approach toward new believers and it was causing a great multitude of the new Christians to remove themselves from the church… Be careful of the knowledge you obtain, because you will be accountable for how you use it! To know something is one thing, but to know how to use it is another… Paul says that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up; you may know God’s word, but you are not walking in it until you can demonstrate His love… Love is unconditional, love doesn’t cast down, love doesn’t close doors and love doesn’t cut or create wounds… As a child of God our mission is to exalt Christ and the church; we have been given the knowledge to do so, but we aren't doing it! This is what Paul is saying, you can study God’s word all you want and be able to quote scriptures all day long, but if you are not exalting your fellow man or helping the neighbor in need you are misusing the knowledge that you have obtained! Paul goes on to say that the man who thinks he knows something doesn’t, we will never know all the secrets that God has for us and His people and it is for that reason that we must remain humble and always seeking His word and will… We can’t become complacent in our walk with God, we can’t become fulfilled in our drive to know Him and His word; when this happens we have become “puffed up” we have put ourselves on the level of God as if we can’t learn anything else from Him (Lucifer is a prime example of a puffed up attitude)! We all have heard the saying that knowledge is power and if we believe that let us remember that the only knowledge we have is that Christ loved us enough to give His life and will come back for His bride! Knowledge is power because it should help us to remain humble and steadfast, avoiding the traps of the enemy and always trying to live a life pleasing to the Lord! No Jesus, No Heaven; Know Jesus, Know Heaven…

BE BLESSED!!!