Knowledge → Love

The year-long Bible-reading plan, “The Bible Recap,” encourages believers to engage with Scripture by reading several chapters daily and working through the Bible in chronological order. One of my favorite parts of this plan is the five short prayers it encourages you to pray before you do your reading each day. The second prayer especially stands out to me: “Let any knowledge I gain help me love You and others more, and not puff me up.” The final verse of 2 Peter is an important reminder about this subject. It says this: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (3:18). 

This verse in 2 Peter has two parts: we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, but He receives the glory now and always. We grow in knowledge, He gets the glory.

Some people have no shortage of knowledge about Jesus, but they are lacking in the humility department. They can tell you what the Bible says about different subjects and their opinions on every matter, but they do it in an arrogant manner. They gain knowledge, but they allow it to “puff them up,” and don’t use it to love the Lord and others more. 

Let us think about Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13. He said that if he understands all mysteries, has all knowledge and faith, but doesn’t have love, he is nothing (v. 2). Our knowledge must lead us on to action. Our growth in the knowledge of Christ should lead to a growth in action for Christ. It does not matter how many seminary degrees you earn, how many Bible verses you memorize, or how many sermons you preach; we must do these things for the Lord, not for ourselves. 

Now, please don’t misinterpret this. We absolutely need to stand firm on the truth. In a world of lies and false religion, the Word of God is our steady, unchanging anchor. We should take a bold stand on what the Bible says and share it with the world. However, we must do this not for our sake, but for the Lord’s. We should not share our knowledge about Him so that others will think we are intelligent or great, but so that they will know who our amazing God is and what He has done.  

Any knowledge we gain about God is from Him. He graciously allows us to learn about His character, His ways, and how He loves His people. We must humbly recognize that everything—yes, everything!—is a gift from God, and that we cannot take any of the recognition or prestige from His good gifts. There is no room for pride when we kneel in humility at the foot of the cross. 

So, as Christians, we should increase our knowledge of God! We need to be reading the Bible, studying it, and seeking to know the God we serve better. It is a blessed privilege that we have such rich access to the Bible and Biblical resources as 21st-century Christians. But we should be on guard against letting this knowledge puff us up. Instead, let us pray that the Lord will use what we read, learn, and grow in to love others with the truth.