1 Corinthians 8:1-6: a reflection

1Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know. 3But anyone who loves God is known by him. 4Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.

Addressing a dispute among the Corinthians, Paul lays down a principle that reaches far beyond the immediate question: We know that we all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs up, while love builds up. Knowledge, he warns, has a tendency to inflate the one who has it, to make us proud; love, by contrast, builds others up. And he adds a humbling note: if anyone imagines he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

Notice the contrast Paul draws, and the caution in it. Knowledge is not bad, but it carries a danger: it puffs up, inflates, makes us feel superior to those who know less, and can be wielded to win arguments rather than to help people. Love does the opposite: it builds up, edifies, seeks the good of others rather than the elevation of self. And the truly knowledgeable person, Paul says, is marked by humility, aware of how much they do not know.

That is a searching word for anyone who values knowledge and being right. It is possible to accumulate knowledge, even true knowledge about God, and have it puff us up, make us proud, argumentative, dismissive of others, rather than loving. Knowledge without love inflates; love builds. So do not prize knowing over loving. Let your knowledge be governed by love, used to build others up rather than to elevate yourself. And hold it humbly, remembering how little you truly know. Seek not merely to know, but to love, for love, not knowledge, is what builds people up.

Lord, Paul warns that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Guard me from a knowledge that inflates me, makes me proud, argumentative, or dismissive of others. Keep me from prizing being right over loving people. Help me hold what I know humbly, aware of how little I truly know, and to let love govern my knowledge, using it to build others up rather than to elevate myself. Teach me that love, not mere knowledge, is what builds people up. Make me loving, not just knowing.