"Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that 'all of us possess knowledge.' This 'knowledge' puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God."
Knowledge is concerned about what can be done, but love is concerned with what should be done. When someone thinks that he knows better and thinks that he can do as he pleases, he has a "knowledge" that puffs up. But it is an incomplete knowledge. It is a knowledge that will act without regard for how his actions effect other people. It is a knowledge without love. That kind of knowledge is not true knowledge, and the person with that kind of knowledge "does not yet know as he ought to know."
It would be far better to be known by God. Now obviously God knows all of us, but when a person truly loves God, he is in a relationship with God. That is, God knows him relationally. When a person loves God and has an understanding of who God is and what He is like (a knowledge that "he ought to know"), the person will not be puffed up by this knowledge. He will be humbled, and he will act out of a desire to build up those who love God and are loved by God.
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