I Corinthians 13:4-8a
“Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant, It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, pit does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails”.
I believe this is the third time focusing in on these passages. Today we’ll talk about how love doesn’t brag and how it’s not arrogant. When one brags others feel like they don’t measure up. They feel less than.
Psalm 73:1-9 details how David felt while being around braggarts, “God certainly is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant. As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their belly is fat. They are not in trouble like other people, Nor are they tormented together with the rest of mankind. Therefore arrogance is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart overflow. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.”
Bragging and pride is so far from God’s character. The beatitudes come to mind. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” God praises the one poor in spirit. It means we are blessed when we see our real state, that of great need. In our bible study at school last week we were studying Romans 3. Verses 9-18 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The venom of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery lie in their wake, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” No one can be prideful, if one’s actual state is known. We would be poor in spirit.
When I think of pride, Satan comes to mind. Pride led to his fall. Isaiah 14 details how he sought to be like God and take His place. This was part of Eve’s temptation to be like God.
We can also sin with pride and arrogance. When we boast about our self sufficiency, we are delving into sin. God is to be our all. We should be building His kingdom, not ours.
Lord, help us to rely on You. May pride not be found in us.