Love: The Greatest Gift (Part 3)

Verse of the day: 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

As we continue studying what love looks like in action, in accordance to the Word of God; we see that love does not boast or brag. In other words, it is not inconsiderate, and is humble. When we truly love, we will see the other person as being better than ourselves. Philippians 2:3 tells us that nothing should be done out of selfishness, but with humility, always esteeming the other person as better than ourselves. When we boast or parade ourselves over others, we are doing just the opposite. In serving God, and others, in love, we will do much in serving without bragging or viewing ourselves as better simply because God chooses to use us as freely as we make ourselves available. That does not make us better than anyone else. Jesus was the ultimate example of humility, who, even though He is God, chose not to make Himself equal to God, but instead humbled Himself, came to us as a Man, choosing to be a bondservant, and became obedient even unto death (Phil 2:5-8). Love is not puffed up, or inflated with pride. This is a bit different then parading itself. A person who is puffed up may not necessarily boast of himself/herself. We, even as Christians, can fall into the trap of thinking that we are more important than we really are in our own minds; however, we must remember that outside of Jesus we are nothing, and deserve eternal condemnation. In 1 Corinthians 8:1 we are reminded that even having much knowledge can cause us to be puffed up. So, even if we are diligent to study God’s Word and gain much biblical knowledge, we must be careful not to think that this somehow makes us superior to other Christians, but instead use that knowledge to serve God and others with humility. Romans 12:3 tells us that we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. Love is meek, modest, and is willing to put whatever sense of importance we may have of self, for the sake of serving in the humblest of manners, and in obedience to God’s leading. 1 Peter 5:5-6 tells us that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. He also exalts the humble in due time. We accomplish more when we serve in love than when we serve on the basis of who we think we are; for if we serve God on the basis of who we think we are, we only give room to the devils to move in and use our pride to hinder God’s work in our lives (Jm 4:6-8).

Jesus humbled Himself even to death on the cross. Today, He extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).