I love it when God answers prayers in simple ways, like He did tonight on our drive home from church. I’ve been praying for ways to have more natural conversations with my daughter about scripture.
The Power of Love Over Knowledge
Tonight at church, the pastor delivered a powerful message from 1 Corinthians 8 about love, knowledge, and how we treat others who might not share our beliefs or convictions.
In this chapter, we see an interesting portrait of a community blessed with incredible gifts and intelligence. Yet despite their impressive abilities, they had a critical flaw – they were missing the essential ingredient of love in their interactions with others.
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times
Paul’s wisdom here is timeless. He points out that while knowledge can feed our ego, love actually strengthens relationships and builds others up. He illustrates this principle with a practical example from their daily lives – the debate over eating meat that had been offered to idols.
The “knowledgeable” Christians understood that idols weren’t real gods, so technically, eating this meat wasn’t wrong. But Paul challenged them to look deeper than just being technically correct. Some of their fellow believers, still new in their faith, felt deeply troubled by this practice. So while the educated Christians were technically “right” about the meat, their actions were ultimately “wrong” because they prioritized being right over showing love to their struggling brothers and sisters.
Known By Our Love
One verse really stuck with me: “But if any man love God, the same is known of him” (1 Corinthians 8:3). The pastor asked us something that made me pause: “Do people know you by your love of God? Are you known for loving God with all your heart?”
Living Out God’s Love
On the drive home, my daughter told me about a girl from church who really lives out what it means to love like Jesus. She shared how instead of having birthday parties, the girl often volunteers at animal shelters. In my daughter’s eyes, the girl always exhibits kindness. She noted she’s been baptized and regularly hands out invitations for kids to join her at church. We discussed that one of the biggest blessings is this girl has accepted Jesus into her heart, making it easier to love the way Jesus loves.
The “Little G Gods” in Our Lives
The pastor also talked about how we all have different idols (or as he described them, “Little G Gods”) in our lives – those things we prioritize over God, like our phones, TV shows, or hobbies. Those idols pull us away from our relationship with God.
My daughter and I talked about how her idols of talking on the phone and playing games not only pull her away from God, but they also keep her from doing her best in school. As we discussed the massive amount of homework she’d piled up by not doing it earlier in the day, I told her we would have to start skipping evening things if she couldn’t focus.
“We can skip church on Wednesdays,” she said.
To which I responded, “We can skip basketball practice on Tuesdays and Fridays but there is nothing more important than learning about Jesus. Skipping church is not an option.”
Navigating Different Standards
The pastor also made an interesting point about conscience and convictions. We’re not all raised with the same values, and that’s okay. Someone who doesn’t share our convictions today might develop them later through the Holy Spirit’s gentle guidance. But the person will never find the Holy Spirit if we don’t lead them to Christ through our own actions.
This led to another great conversation with my daughter about why some of her friends can watch shows that we don’t allow in our home. Instead of being judgmental, we talked about how different families have different standards, and not everyone has had the same exposure to the Christian faith that my daughter has had.
She then opened up about how some kids at school use the Lord’s name in vain. Instead of jumping into lecture mode, we had such a beautiful discussion about understanding – these kids simply haven’t been taught differently. Not everyone grows up in church like she has. Our role isn’t to judge them, but to love them and show them a different way.
Building Bridges, Not Barriers
The pastor’s message tonight really boiled down to this: are we being stepping stones or stumbling blocks in others’ faith journeys? It’s not about winning arguments or proving points – it’s about showing Christ’s love in a way that draws people to Him.
Sometimes our well-meaning attempts to share our convictions can push people away if we’re not careful. The goal isn’t to make everyone think exactly like we do – it’s to love them well and trust the Holy Spirit to do the convicting work in His own time.
As I reflected on all of this, I realized how often we can get caught up in being right instead of being kind. Knowledge without love can make us prideful, but love guided by wisdom can build bridges to hearts that need Jesus.
What about you? Have you ever had to navigate these waters? I’d love to hear your thoughts on balancing conviction with compassion.
A Mother’s Reflection
As I reflected on all of this, I realized how often we can get caught up in being right instead of being kind. Knowledge without love can make us prideful, but love guided by wisdom can build bridges to hearts that need Jesus.
What about you? Have you ever had to navigate these waters? I’d love to hear your thoughts on balancing conviction with compassion.