Grace and Peace

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (ESV)

At the root of our fallen, sinful nature is the desire to have one’s own way.  The Corinthians were textbook cases for this unseemly facet of our flesh.   At every turn they looked out for their own best interests. They were rude to one another during the Lord’s Table celebration.  They were taking each other to court before unbelievers.  They were competing with one another to demonstrate the most flashy spiritual gifts.  They were lining up behind various teachers and arguing for the superiority of their particular favorites.  They were taking freedom in Christ to the point of license.  Old Blue Eyes popular song, “My Way” could have been their national anthem…and ours as well!

But God uses Paul to point out that love isn’t about asserting one’s rights and taking all you can, instead love is about giving.  Jesus’ disciples were into power, control, and personal rights, too, but He set them straight (and us, also) in chapter 20 of Matthew’s Gospel:

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28 ESV)

Not only the command of Jesus, but the example of Jesus calls us to a life of service and sacrifice.  Rather than that being a life of drudgery; it is life of blessing.  Instead of having it your way today, why not do it God’s way!

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.  1 Corinthians 13:4 (ESV)

In the second of Paul’s negative assertions concerning love, he uses a word used nowhere else in the New Testament translated in English as, “boast.”  The word literally means to “be a windbag.”  Gordon Fee says it suggests self-centered actions in which there is an inordinate desire to call attention to oneself.  It refers to a parading of one’s accomplishments; it can be seen as the “other side of envy”, for it involves attempting to make others jealous of what we have. While envy seeks to put others down, bragging is an attempt to lift our selves up.  It is the particular sin of pride running wild.

It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to recognize that God takes a dim view of pride.  In Proverbs, we are told that pride is dishonorable (Proverbs 11:2), destructive (Proverbs 16:18), and that God hates it (Proverbs 8:13).  Pride is the sin of Satan and being the destructive being that he is; he uses every trick to turn humanity to the same path - so that we exalt ourselves above others and even God.

Seeing the danger of pride is fairly easy, the more difficult task is learning how to overcome pride?  Melvin Newland points out three great scriptural princilples to help us.  First, we must remember our mortality.  We are not God; we are but flesh.  “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14 ESV)  We do not know the span of our life; only God does! Pride causes us to forget our place, but remembering that our lives here on earth are temporary and hang so precariously is a sobering dose of reality.

Last, let’s acknowledge God’s sovereignty.  While we are mortal, destined one day to die physically, and while we are fallible, failing with regularity, God is immortal and infallible…and He is in control.  “For God is the King of all the earth;sing praises with a psalm!  God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” (Psalm 47:7-8 ESV) When we act with pride and become arrogant and boastful; we act as though we have forgotten that God is in sovereign control and not us.  Let’s remember He is the Creator and we are the creation.