Love Does Not Boast

After preaching this last sermon, I have been thinking about how many times I have boasted or bragged to others and how many times others have bragged to me. Bragging rights seems to be something we cherish in our human nature and comes very easily to us, however in God's estimation a braggart is nothing more than a "bag of wind". The Corinthians were nothing more than spiritual show offs and it proved they lacked love. The same can be said of many Christians today.  I have found that there are several areas where we can caught up in bragging in thinking we are being spiritual when in reality, we are indirectly demeaning others. For example:

As a pastor it is easy to brag about how many people came out to your service and how many people you were able to get to come out to a special event. But in the process of doing so especially in the company of other pastors, we may indirectly demean that person and make them feel inferior to us.
Such is not Christian love.

Or sometimes we may be attending a church that we really are blessed by and brag about our pastor or church to other Christins as if any other pastor or church was inferior and second rate compared to our church. Now while it may be true that you are blessed by the ministry in your church, wisdom would seek to be careful in how we couch our words lest we directly or indirectly make others feel like second rate Christins.

Then we can easily deceive ourselves by practicing our religion with ostentation to attract the praise and glory of men- just like the Pharisees did. Jesus made no qualms about condemning them for thier overt display of religion to elevate their egos above everyone else.


Matt. 7:5 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

We are good at covering up our failures and equally good at blowing the trumpet at our success. But God's word tells us that Love doe snot boast. And if we do not have love, than all our religion and spirituality is utterly worthless (1 Cor. 13:1-4) We can brag in just about anything. We can brag about our jobs, our children, our health etc. But bragging only reveals 2 things. First a denial of God's grace in providing all of our needs according to his riches an glory. Anything we have is a gift from his hand and so the only thing we should boast in is our knowledge of him (Jer. 9:23-24) Second- it reveals a heart that does not love others but is more concerned abut being loved by others.. IF we were more sensitive to the feelings of others we would be careful not to brag. We  should ask, "Would I make my brother or sister in Christ feel second rate if I boast in this success of mine?"" Is my intention to make my my brother or sister in Christ feel inferior to me?"" Is it necessary that people acknowledge my successes?" How will it glorify God? "

After asking several question like this- you will be far less quick to brag in the company of others. And if you really want people to like you you will excel by not bragging- no body likes a braggart. 

The Corinthians were a bunch of braggarts and show offs and as a result were guilty of offending their fellow Christians and God. Are we show offs? Do we boast to make ourselves look better than everyone else? If so then you need a lesson in love. 

John MacArthur made an excellent point in his commentary on this subject: "I don't know if you realize it, but boasting is geared to hurt other people. It is geared to wound somebody else--to make you stand out and them look inferior.

Love is Kind...

Paul's positive affirmation of love's character is that love is both long suffering and kind. Here are two sides of the same coin. While in  one sense love suffers long and patiently enduring personal injury and offenses, on the other side we repay those who are mean, unfair and mistreat us with kindness. Such ideas are really foreign and contrary to human nature. In our humanity it is natural to be self defensive, lose patience, get angry and give up on people. And when that is not enough we dream up of ways to get revenge ranging anywhere to outright violence, to a cold shoulder. No matter how you cut it- such behavior is unloving and not reflective of God. It is easy to be nice to people who are nice to us, but Jesus said, "Even sinners can do that!" The real test of your faith is to be kind and generous to those who are not nice to us,  just as our Heavenly Father is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. So what are some ways we can be kind to others?

We can show respect to others even when we think they do not deserve it, or they disrespected us. All people have a desire to be shown the most common decency. Why is it we are so quick to show respect and be polite to a civil official for instance, but will think nothing of dismissing a homeless man as a bum and treating him as less. True kindness, shows respect to all people regardless of their lot in life or regardless of their actions. Simple gestures like Good Morning or Good Evening, or simply acknowledging someone else human  dignity. Even the lowest of men reflect their creator to some degree, no matter how marred.

To show compassion and sympathy is another way we practice kindness. There are so many people who are hurting around us all day. Often we are so consumed with our own problems we feel little sympathy for others. Also we have become so desensitized to pain and suffering by being exposed to so much on broadcast media, that it is not even bothersome to us. It is common to hear of some tragic story on the 5 o'clock news, and we easily dismiss it. However, we need to cultivate genuine compassion and sympathy for others. When we see others in pain and suffering for whatever reason, it is easy to say, they had it coming, or poor souls, or think we have it worse. But the reality is we should see all human suffering to whatever degree it is, as painful to the person experiencing it, and show some type of kindness by "weeping with those who weep". But we should also seek to do something to alleviate the pain of others. James uses sarcasm to show how some people are kind only in their words,
"If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" Ja. 2:15-16. But rather we should love people not just in word but in deed. If we have it in our ability to alleviate the pain of others and withhold, what are we saying about God who has shown so much kindness towards us?