Love Builds, Knowledge Grows

"Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way."
1 Cor 8:1-7, 11-13
1 Jn 4:12
Lk 6:27-38

"Knowledge inflates but love up-builds." Actually, there is no conflict between knowledge and love. It is not as though knowledge is bad and love is good. They go together. We cannot love what we don't know. If we have knowledge without love, then it only serves to inflate our ego and make us proud. We are called to a most radical kind of love, a love which looks for the good of the other in every circumstances, even when the other is an enemy. We are called to love as God loves, not with merely human love. This is not possible for us, but God can make all things possible by acting his grace in us. We are called to seek out what is loving thing to do in all situations ---- how we can best serve God and neighbor. Sometimes it is good to do what a person asks us, but there are times when we should not do what a person asks. There are times we need to suffer the injustice of another, but there are times when we should not suffer the injustice inflicted on us by another. It requires prayer and careful listening to determine the loving thing to do or say in any given situation.
We want to be careful that we are motivated by the good of the other, and not seeking our own advantage. It is easy to use one another to fulfill a need in ourselves rather than doing what is good for the other. We may enable a person to remain in his / her weakness or sin because we need to feel "useful" or in control. We do well to examine our motives. We also need to know the moral truth involved in a situation. Too often we hear people say things like, "This just feel right to me." Trying to discern what is loving by relying on our feelings is a very dangerous way to live. Our feelings are not safe guides for what is truly loving in a given situation. We should seek knowledge of what is truth. If we want to do what is best for the other in a given situation, we need to know what is actually best, not merely what "feels" best for us, or what the other person says is best. We are asked to love as he loves. This involves a balance. We cannot be overly legalistic on the one hand, or too sentimental on the other hand. When we are legalistic, we act without compassion ---- when we are sentimental, we enable others to remain in their weakness. To act in love, we need to stay connected with the Lord, seeking his wisdom as each individual case arises. The Lord is ever faithful, and he will tell us how to truly love each person we encounter. Do I tell others my truth in love, do I think it is my responsibility to get them to change? How am I a stumbling block to others in their journey? Let's call and allow the Lord to work in us.♥