Knowledge, Knowing, and Love

 By: Lauren Thomas 

How do you learn best? Learning styles can involve listening, seeing, and reading. But most people learn best by “hands-on” learning.

 

I like knowledge. I’m a nerd. I like to research topics. I like to learn new things. But I can be tempted to think that knowledge is a good alternative for action. I’m tempted to believe, If I can just learn enough about this thing, it’s basically like experiencing it.

 

But no.

 

Having knowledge is not the same thing as knowing.

 

There are some things we get backwards, upside down, inside out. Some things make sense to us from a human perspective. But from a Kingdom perspective, our understanding falls flat. It’s nothing new. Paul has been correcting us since the earliest days of Christianity. One thing we can get wrong is knowledge vs. knowing.

 

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 8:1 that “knowledge puffs up.” Knowledge alone is incomplete. Knowledge is not the end-all-be-all.

 

Love is.

 

Paul goes on to say that love “builds up.” To have knowledge might make us look superior. Our knowledge of the Bible might make us look like superior Christians. But knowledge alone merely makes us puffed-up Christians, liable to blow away in the wind. Conversely, there is something of substance to a Christian who loves and is loved.

 

But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.

1 Corinthians 8:1b-3 ESV

 

Loving God and knowing about God are two different things. We can know a lot about God without knowing Him at all. But when we love God, we are “known by” Him. This is the only knowing that really counts: God knowing us.

 

This knowing is God’s love for us. This knowing is our love for Him. This knowing is experiencing God’s love. This knowing is a love that spills out to those around us. This is the knowing that matters.

 

Prayer:

Lord, deflate my carefully constructed, puffed-up self. Help me remember that knowledge does not make me a good Christian. May the “knowing” that I put the highest value on be You knowing me. May my love be for You and not what I can know about You. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Do you know about your personal learning style? How much value do you place in knowledge? While it is important to learn about God so that we can know Him better, what ultimately matters is our love for God and how it is manifested. How can you focus your Bible study this week to make love the priority, rather than gaining knowledge?