Recently, I went over the notes I've made on the Olive Tree software I use to read the Bible, and ran across this note I made on I Cor 8:1, which seems share-worthy:
"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up". Knowledge tends to point to itself and gets all wrapped up in the fact that it knows what it knows. This is very head-puffing. Love takes that same knowledge, and constructs. Note that 'edify', though very much a "religious" word, tends to because of that become vague almost to the point of uselessness. 'Build up' is heading the same way. To get the idea across in our culture, I'd use the term "construct", or maybe just "build" by itself. Knowledge on its own inflates the head of its owner to the point where it is empty and flimsy. Love takes that same knowledge, and builds something solid in the lives of others, whether or not the others realize that that person knows what he does. Love isn't interested in showing off its knowledge. Love is interested in making that knowledge productive in other's lives.
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