Love is the Measure of Maturity

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Start with Application Testimony

[Give people an opportunity to share a testimony from last week’s exhortation]

Last week’s exhortation: Identify the number one change you need to make in the things you currently desire, and then begin to make that change.

INTRO

We are going verse-by-verse, in a topical study through I & II Corinthians

Current Topic: Becoming Mature - The personal discipline of becoming like Jesus

In the last lesson, we learned that we must train ourselves to stop desiring evil things, to take the path that leads away from temptation, and to prioritize what is beneficial.

In this lesson, we are going to go further into the topic of love and how we measure our maturity by it. In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul is just beginning to answer the Corinthians’ question about eating things sacrificed to idols, and in doing so, he shows the role that love plays in making mature decisions.

READ

1 Corinthians 8 CSB

1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by him. 4 About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”—6 yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him. 7 However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. 9 But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? 11 So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. 12 Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.

EXAMINE

#1 | Love is the path to understanding

When we focus on what we know, we just become arrogant.

1 Corinthians 8:1–2 “...Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it.”

Arrogance inevitably leads to ignorance - we don’t take time to understand, because we think we already do.

True understanding comes through relationship.

1 Corinthians 8:3 “But if anyone loves God, he is known by him.”

Think about what Paul is saying: “It’s not about knowing God - it’s about being known by Him.”

This is better than just knowing things about God - and it’s only possible through loving relationship.

#2 | Maturity is about understanding things, not just knowing them

There are degrees of knowledge and there is always more to learn

1 Corinthians 8:4,7 “About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,”… 7 However, not everyone has this knowledge...”

Each person is at a different place in their Christian journey and what God has revealed to them.

We have to be sensitive to these differences and stay humble - just as others have more to learn, so do we.

We don’t help people by what we know - we help them by what we understand.

1 Corinthians 8:9,11 “...be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak… 11 So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge.”

“Weak person” just means someone who is newer to their Christian journey and is still struggling to know what is good and what isn’t.

It’s possible to do harm to them by sharing knowledge they don’t yet have the spiritual maturity to handle.

By understanding where someone is at in their Christian journey, we can apply the right knowledge at the right time in a way that helps them grow.

#3 | Love is the measure of maturity

Maturity is marked by the ability to sacrifice something good to attain something better.

1 Corinthians 8:13 “...if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.”

Love motivates us to lay down our rights and even deprive ourselves of good things, if the ones we love can benefit.

Jesus, as the Incarnation of God’s love for His people, set the standard for maturity.

Philippians 2:3–5 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,”

We cannot be mature and unloving. We know how mature we are by how closely we align to the standard of love set by Jesus.

REFLECT

Let’s take a moment to pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight and draw our attention to what He wants us to see and understand today

APPLY

Process the passage together with these questions:

[Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want people to feel the liberty to explore the topics of the passage that stand out to them. Select the questions from below that you think are right for the conversation, or add your own. Questions should be focused, yet open-ended. Wherever the conversation goes, help your group “land the plane” on the core idea of the lesson when you wrap up.]

When have you seen someone use knowledge in a way that caused harm instead of help?

Have you ever felt confused or hurt by someone who “knew more” spiritually?

What’s the difference between knowing something and understanding it?

How can we discern when to speak truth and when to hold back for love’s sake?

Where we want to “land the plane”

Love is the way to true understanding, real maturity is marked by the ability to wisely apply knowledge, and the clearest measure of our maturity is how we love others. Christian maturity isn’t shown by how much we know, but by how well we understand and apply love in our life. God doesn’t just want us to know facts about Him - He wants us to love Him and live as those who are known by Him. The love of Christ calls us to sacrifice, not just to be right.

Exhortation for the Week

Make a shift this week to pursue understanding and not just information, choosing love over being “knowledgeable”.

FOOTNOTES

As a final note to this chapter it should be understood that Paul did not say that a knowledgeable Christian must abandon his freedom to the ignorant prejudice of a “spiritual” bigot. The “weak brother” (v. 11) was one who followed the example of another Christian, not one who carped and coerced that knowledgeable Christian into a particular behavioral pattern. Also it was unlikely that Paul saw this weak brother as permanently shackling the freedom of the knowledgeable Christian. The “weak brother” was no omnipresent phantom but an individual who was to be taught so that he too could enjoy his freedom (Gal. 5:1). David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 522.