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b'READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-11; 8:1-3; PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11\\n\\n\\n\\nI was just reading an article about sheep, and I learned about something called sheep bloat. Sometimes a farmer goes out one morning, and there\\u2019s this dead sheep laying on its back, feet up in the air. Its belly is swollen tight. And sheep bloat has slain another one.\\n\\n\\n\\nWhat causes sheep bloat? It happens when a sheep eats too much lush, delectable, protein-rich pasture. The sheep can\\u2019t handle the richness, and the gases fill its belly until\\u2014pop. It\\u2019s dead.\\n\\n\\n\\nWhat does that have to do with us? God calls us His sheep, and He is our Good Shepherd. And, much like sheep, we have the potential to bloat. Paul tells us that \\u201cknowledge puffs up while love builds up\\u201d (1 Corinthians 8:1). Too much rich knowledge without love can actually hinder our spiritual life. If we haven\\u2019t been built up and strengthened by love, we can\\u2019t sustain all that richness, so we too could bloat up with pride and noxious fumes until we\\u2019re knocked flat\\u2014like the sheep that fall victim to sheep bloat.\\n\\n\\n\\nBut dwelling in Jesus\\u2019s love builds us up. When we rest in the gospel\\u2014the truth of Jesus\\u2019s love for us embodied in His death and resurrection\\u2014His love equips us to take in all kinds of good knowledge without bloating.\\n\\n\\n\\nHow can we tell if we\\u2019re being puffed up or built up? Here\\u2019s a good test: Does new information make us excited to show other people how smart we are, or does it give us a burning desire to help others enjoy it too? Do we follow knowledge-rich podcasts to make ourselves more useful to others, or to make others think we\\u2019re bigger than they are? We won\\u2019t be helpful to others if we\\u2019re paralyzed by our own bloatedness (Ephesians 4:29).\\n\\n\\n\\nNobody likes knowledge gas. But because of Jesus, we can be built up by God\\u2019s love, extend that love to those around us, and then acquire some vital knowledge that will bless all of us\\u2014not just impress people with our hot air. \\u2022 Rebekah Dorris\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u2022 Jesus calls us to love Him and to love others (Matthew 22:37-40). How can pursuing knowledge help us love God and each other better?\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u2022 What can happen when we pursue knowledge without love?\\n\\n\\n\\nBut knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 1 Corinthians 8:1b (NIV)'