I Corinthians 8:1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
Knowledge and Love
Good people do not always agree among themselves. This is a problem, because unlike bad people, good people want to do things guided by what they believe is right. I Corinthians 8 gives three key ideas. One is knowledge, what we know. Another is conscience, what we believe. The third is action, what we do. Knowledge produces conscience, and conscience produces actions. The question is, “What if two good people who love the Lord have different levels of knowledge or a conscience that has been shaped in a different way, thus leading to two different actions?”
Well, in I Corinthians 8 Paul says, “Now as touching the things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” While my knowledge has a tendency to build my ego, my love for others has a tendency to build them.
We want people to do what is right, and we want people to have a clean conscience about what they are doing. They may need more knowledge, but sometimes my deference, my love of people, is a lot more convincing than my knowledge. I want people to wake up, pay attention, and get the truth. But they are more likely to get the truth if they know that I am not trying to win an argument. Sometimes our time is better spent winning a brother than winning an argument.
My knowledge strengthens me, but my love builds up others. “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” Just because I am free to do something does not necessarily mean that my doing it will express love or help to other people. My life should be directed by the truth I know and motivated by love for Jesus and the people He came to save.