Knowledge Is Power

With schools starting up around the nation, one of the common statements being heard is that knowledge is power. Students from kindergarten, all the way through graduate schools are told this statement. It is believed to be started by Francis Bacon, a philosopher and scientist, in 1597. This makes the statement several hundred years old.

The thought behind this statement is that if you have knowledge, you will have more power than someone else who does not have that knowledge.

Having this power is something that can be used in positive or negative ways. Some positive things that can occur with knowledge are: being able to read and communicate clearly; knowing how to do something safely; knowing what is happening around you correctly; knowing the warning signs that are showing; and knowing how to make things better. These are just a few of the many examples of how knowledge can help be a positive thing. They give you the power to do the correct thing in the best way possible.

At the same time, knowledge can be used in very negative ways. Having knowledge of a person’s past can allow one to destroy that person. Having knowledge of a person’s habits can allow one to overcome and hurt that person. Criminals use knowledge to steal from a person or business, or harm someone. Their knowledge gives them power over another person, who does not realize what they know. The media uses knowledge all the time to make or destroy a public person’s reputation.

As a believer, the question can be asked if knowledge gives power or not? And is that a good thing or not?

Proverbs 9:10 New International Version (NIV)
10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Here is a common verse that many know. Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to correctly use knowledge that you have been given or learned. To fully understand anything correctly, you must have knowledge of God. Without God at the forefront of all knowledge, there will be faults in the knowledge.

There is great power in knowing God. It is in knowing God that a person can know who He really is. In knowing God, one can also really know who he, himself, is.

The world tries to make knowledge a god. However, knowledge is just a tool that God can use. Knowledge, alone, does not make a person powerful, but it is in how that knowledge is used and what knowledge is used.

As you get to know God and gain knowledge about God, you will be empowered for greater things to be done. It is in knowing God that you get to know how much He really does love you, regardless of what you have done in the past. This knowledge empowers you to live more for Him.

Knowing God allows you to know the gifts that He has for you. God has given you His Holy Spirit to allow you to do greater works for Him.  Knowing that you have His Holy Spirit in you, also gives you power to have His peace and comfort at all times, in all situations in this life.

Knowing God and what He has done for you, gives you power to be able to tell others who He is, what He has done, and what He can do for them. If you do not really know God, you will not be able to stand up and really tell others about Him or what He can do.

Knowing God allows you to understand what is going on around you from an eternal perspective. You can realize the sin that is occurring or the work that God is doing in the lives of others. You can have understanding and insight into what people are really saying or how they are really living.

Knowing God also takes away the fear of what the world can do to you. In knowing God, you will know that you have a future in heaven that no man can take away from you. You have an eternal life to look forward to, if anyone on this earth should take your life here.

Having the correct knowledge does really give you great power. It is not just in knowing things of this earth, but in knowing the God who made it all possible. It is knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior that gives you greater power than even the devil, himself, has.

It is God who has all the power. It is God who gives all the power. So, yes,  knowledge is power, but do you have the correct knowledge? The world’s? Or God’s?