LOVE > being right

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

(1 Corinthians 8:1b)

Comedian Jeff Allen said his father told him on his wedding day that as a newly-married man, when it comes to his relationship with his wife, he has two options: he can be RIGHT, or he can be HAPPY. Thus the phrase, "Happy wife, happy life!"

The apostle Paul knew this timeless truth - but extended it beyond marriage relationships. In the 8th chapter of his 1st letter to the Christians in Corinth, he addressed the subject of foods sacrificed to idols. In a bustling, multi-cultural city like Corinth, there were many different religious sects. Most had some sort of sacramental offering system in place. So whenever the priests of the various cults had leftover sacrificial meats that they didn't eat, they'd often sell them in the marketplace. New converts to Christianity worried that they'd be participating in "idol worship" if they consumed meat that had once been offered to other gods. Thus, the dilemma.

Paul's underlying truth was simple: there are no other true gods than the LORD. Period. So eating food that was once sacrificed to some non-existent god isn't a problem at all. Except... except if it becomes a stumbling block to new Christians who can't wrap their heads around this concept. So Paul tells the Corinthians that even though there's truly nothing wrong with it, it's actually better to avoid marketplace meats so as to not make it a problem for their fellow "baby Christians." Doing so would be an act of love.

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up," says Paul. How true. We can KNOW something to be true, but in our insistence to be right (and to leet others know that we are right), we do more harm than good. But if we choose to respond with love, then everyone wins. This is true in marriage, with our children, in church, within politics, with friendships... I honestly can't think of a place where proving how right we are is better than responding in love.

Now all I have to do is live it out.