1 Corinthians 8:1-3 – Knowledge tampered with love

In the Roman-Grecian world, idolatry had permeated the everyday life. At home, at work, in social gathering, events and feasts, everything they did was saturated with religious services. Christians were unwittingly drawn into the risk of being involved in some forms of idolatrous tribute unaware. This bothered the conscience of some believers. So in their letter to Paul, food offered to idol was one of the subjects they asked the apostle.   

So in verse 1 we see Paul presenting the subject that he wanted to deal with and then veered into talking about knowledge and love. In so doing he was also recommending a principle to deal with the matter. He made clear that knowledge alone is not sufficient when it comes to deciding a behavior on Christian liberty. Everyone has knowledge and that is undeniable. But the problem is this: knowledge alone would inflate a person’s self, ego and pride whereas love builds up.

Paul’s point is this: we cannot deal with a person just based on knowledge alone. We need to tamper it with love. It is not about demanding for the right but it should also be demonstrating righteousness responsibly. The apostle showed that in correcting, loving God must be foremost. When one loves God, he would be known by God. In other words, this person’s life would demonstrate that God is in his life. Only a person who combines his knowledge with God’s love can solve the problem of eating meat offered to idols and for that matter, for all other ethical issues.

In relating with others, what we know is important. But that alone cannot solve a problem. In fact when we are overly assertive to prove how much we know, it usually would put a person off. But when we tamper it with God’s love and ours, we will find better receptivity. In fact correcting with knowledge alone tends to develop a holier-than-thou attitude in us. Love helps us to consider the other person’s situation and help us to manifest God’s love through our dealings. Let’s exercise knowledge with love in helping others to walk right.