Love + Knowledge = ???

The world is filled with so many different kinds of people and so many different cultures. The perspectives and worldviews of each one add a unique richness to the sum of all human experience. For just a moment, allow me to classify humanity into a love continuum and a knowledge continuum. As these two interact with one another, most people would agree that they would desire to rank highly on both. However, none of us are perfect.

If someone has a lot of love, but not a great depth of knowledge, how would you describe that person? How about someone who is incredibly intelligent, with a great deal of knowledge, but without compassion and love? (Quit thinking of names in your head. That's not nice) And the apathetic person who seems to possess very little of either knowledge or love? Do you know people who have a great deal of both?

When considering this in the context of Christianity, we all want to find both. Christians who are incredible at loving and showing compassion but have very little doctrinal or relational understanding of who God is are not walking in the fullness of Christ. Neither is someone who "knows" everything there is to know about God and does not have a deep capacity to love others.

However, when grace is added into the combination of knowledge and love, maturation into full Christlikeness begins to be obtained. (2 Cor. 3:18) Therefore, grace is the key ingredient which allows the intelligent person to grow in love and the loving person to increase in knowledge. And the end result...TRUTH. Truth is the marriage of the knowledge of God and the love of God. In the gospel of John, Jesus declared "I am truth." And Jesus is obviously full of both love and knowledge. Therefore, as we grow in both of these attributes through the grace of God, we are transformed into Jesus' image, the fullness of truth.

May you grow in love and knowledge as you daily pursue truth, and may God grant you the grace required.

(These are the random thoughts flying through my head. Forgive me if this has made absolutely no sense.)



P.S. I am being officially introduced tomorrow at Trinity Hill as the new Director of Young Adult Ministries. This is exciting and a bit challenging. I am really blessed.

I also want to take this opportunity, as impersonal as it may seem, to let you know how much I love and appreciate you all. I have no way of knowing who actually reads my ramblings, but for those of you who read this that I do not get to keep in touch with regularly, know that your presence in my life is an immeasurable blessing.