Friday, September 14, 2007
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love does not parade itself . . .
LOVE DOES NOT BRAG
We really don't like people who brag. It seems everyone "beats their own drum" once in a while. But when someone believes that his "drum" is the biggest of the best and therefore must be played the loudest, others are turned off or turned against. And to top it off, a braggart usually monopolizes conversations. It's an unchecked selfishness which believes that one's opinions are the best, one's accomplishments are the greatest, and both need to be talked about.
We see the need to excel confused with need to win at all costs. Watch the children on the playground argue who's the fastest or strongest or best ball thrower or hitter. And if their own prowess is lacking, then listen to them tell about the virtues of their sports teams, or fairy book hero, or even dad who can certainly beat up "your dad." They even call it "bragging rights," don't they?
Not everyone is so crass and overt. There are more discreet and subtle ways to brag. Body language can also boast of one's self. Choice of words and tone of voice can offer a self-display which extols one's self apart from the words of supposed superiority. They are "puffed up," chests properly extended, nose at its best arrogant angle.
It is the wicked who "boast of their heart's desire" (Psalm 10:3). The rich "boast in the multitude of their riches" (Psalm 49:6). The self-righteous "boast in the law," yet they dishonor God by breaking it (Romans 2:23).
A serious problem had developed in Corinth -- "bragging rights" in the congregation about their favorite spiritual leader. "I am of Apollos." "I am of Peter." "I am of Paul."
The solution to this as well as other problems is founded in that high spiritual love which is patterned after, and receives its power from, the love of God in Christ Jesus. The deeper meaning of His atoning death is that sin is eliminated in God's consideration of each one of us. That includes the sin of selfishness and its attendant inclination to brag and boast.
That doesn't mean we have nothing to brag about. Listen to the apostle Paul talk about boasting and bragging: "But God forbid that I should glory [boast!] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:15).
"Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God" (Romans 15:17).
". . . We glory in tribulations . . ." (Romans 5:3).
On three occasions he had prayed that his "thorn in the flesh" be removed. The Lord answered his prayer: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Paul's comment: "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
There's no special prize for the fastest, the first, or the strongest. We are all one in Christ, and we have already won the best that there is.
