Love Over Knowledge

1Corinthians 8:1-3 NLT - 1 Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that "we all have knowledge" about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

1.    Being Right without being Loving

1Corinthians 13:1 ESV - 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Matthew 5:16 NIV - 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Proverbs 18:19 NKJV - 19 A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle.

2.    Freedom isn’t the Ultimate Goal - Love is.

-       Freedom is not “I get to do whatever I want!”

-       Freedom is “I am no longer bound to myself.”

Galatians 5:13 NLT - 13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Philippians 1:21-22 ESV - 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

3.    The Reality of “Weaker” Believers.

1Corinthians 8:4, 9-10 NLT - 4 So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. ... 9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. 10 For if others see you--with your "superior knowledge"--eating in the temple of an idol, won't they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol?

Galatians 6:4 NLT - 4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else.

4.    Sin isn’t just personal; It can be relational

1Corinthians 8:10-13 NLT - 10 For if others see you--with your "superior knowledge"--eating in the temple of an idol, won't they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? 11 So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. 12 And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 13 So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live--for I don't want to cause another believer to stumble.

• How you affect others matters deeply.

• Christ as the Ultimate Example

Romans 6:5-8 NLT - 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.

Philippians 2:5-8 NLT - 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.

• Jesus didn’t cling to His rights; He surrendered them for the people. And now He calls us to do the same.