The Knowledge Of Love

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

1 Corinthians 8:1

Dr. Albert Schweitzer earned doctorates in philosophy and medicine and received a half-dozen additional honorary doctorates in medicine, theology, and music. He was an authority on Bach and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. Yet despite his brilliance and acclaim, he is best known as a humble doctor who labored for decades in the equatorial jungles of Africa, bringing health and hope to the spiritually and physically needy.

When Albert Schweitzer dispensed medicine or performed surgery on a hurting African man or woman, they did not know how many languages Dr. Schweitzer could read and speak or how many academic degrees he possessed. They only knew him as the kind and gentle doctor who seemed to have a reverence for all of God’s creation, whose words to them were comforting and encouraging.

In many ways, Albert Schweitzer was like the apostle Paul, who said we amount to nothing if our great knowledge is not couched in love (1 Corinthians 13:2). We can become more like Paul, who himself was like Jesus, when people discover first how much we care. Only then will they care how much we know.

People will always have a greater appreciation for your head once they appreciate your heart.