Author: NBibens

This week, we’ve been reviewing the attributes of love found in First Corinthians 13.  For this week’s final message, let’s look at the first part of verse five, where Paul says love “…does not behave rudely.”

It’s so easy to let a bad day gradually shape the way we act toward others until we become short, snippy, and downright rude.  Maybe it’s a co-worker or family member, or maybe it’s a stranger like a waiter or a clerk.  Whoever it might be, we tend to take out our frustrations on others by being rude.  But ask yourself, have you ever enjoyed being treated rudely?  Of course not!  We are all offended and upset when others are rude to us.  So why would we be rude to others?  The reason is because sometimes, we are not guided by love as we ought to be.  No matter how bad the day goes, remember to walk in love and let that guide how you treat and speak to others.  Do not behave rudely; display love and kindness.

This week, we have seen that real, godly love moves us to patience and kindness and prevents us from envying others. Today, let’s note that love “does not boast and is not arrogant.”

Boasting about one’s accomplishments while envying the accomplishments of others comes naturally. But once again, this contradicts real love.  As we see throughout First Corinthians 13, real love helps us focus on others.  Pride and arrogance, however, happen when we focus on ourselves.  An ironic thing happens when we are proud and boastful. Remember that Paul said, “Without love, we are nothing.”  Thus, if boasting is the opposite of love, and without love, we are nothing, then when we boast, we boast about nothing!  When we are proud, we are proud without reason!  Arrogance and boasting do not highlight our accomplishments; they highlight our emptiness and nothingness.  If you want to be something, be humble.  If you want to really accomplish something, pursue humility and godly love.

Yesterday, we saw godly love is first described as “patient and kind.”  In First Corinthians 13, Paul does not just tell us what love is; he also describes what love is not.  The next portrayal of godly love is that “….love does not envy.”

To “envy” is to burn hot against someone, typically out of jealousy.  Such an attitude directly contradicts godly love.  If we seek to be Christians, we cannot allow ourselves to be envious of other’s possessions, abilities, or station in life.  Maybe someone has more than we do.  Perhaps someone is more talented than we are.  Others may enjoy more success than we do.  When we are motivated by love, such things won’t make us envious, they will cause us to rejoice for and with others.  At work, school, home, and especially at church, work on rejoicing in the abilities and good fortunes of others.  Get rid of envy and find the joy of real, godly love.

Our society is quite infatuated with the idea of love.  Unfortunately, the love that many seek is anything but real, godly love.  Satan has disillusioned the world with a twisted definition of love, but thankfully, God has provided us with an accurate portrayal of this most wondrous attribute.

First Corinthians 13:4-8 provides the inspired definition of real love.  These verses show us what love is and what love is not.  The first thing we read is “Love is patient and kind.”  If we seek godly love, we will be patient and kind to others.  We will not be easily upset and offended but instead will give others the benefit of the doubt.  Too often we bristle and get angry at the slightest misstep by others.  That is not the way of love.  As you go through your day, remember to be patient.  Be gracious with others, and work to find the best in each situation.  Approach difficulty with mildness and choose to respond with kindness to all.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”  Those inspired words lay the foundation for one of the greatest chapters in Scripture—First Corinthians 13.

Paul’s discourse begins by explaining what we are not if we lack love.  Purposely exaggerating, Paul demonstrates that if we do marvelous things, obtain sublime knowledge, and make tremendous sacrifices yet miss out on godly love, we have missed out on everything.  Despite our works, we do nothing.  Despite our knowledge, we know nothing.  Despite our giving, we receive nothing.  This is why love is “the more excellent way.”

When someone passes away young, we find that especially sad because they could have enjoyed many more years. Missing out on those years seems truly tragic. But we should remember that a successful life is not measured in length.

Genesis 5 contains a genealogy of Adam’s descendants. At the time, men regularly lived eight or nine hundred years! But a man named Enoch only walked this earth for 365 years. That sounds like a long time, but wasn’t half of what others lived. Yet Enoch is special in the list, not because of his shortened years—in fact, the short years seemed to be a blessing. The Bible says, “Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him.” Enoch’s years were few compared to others, but they were good, for they were spent walking with God. Don’t make length of years your goal. Make walking with God your goal. Then, whether you live only a short time or a very long life, you will have lived the best life.

Many Pharisees were determined to oppose Jesus. There were some, however, who were open to learning more about the Lord. In John 7, some of them were angry at Jesus and the crowds who followed Him, but one of them, named Nicodemus, asked, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” That was a good question. But his peers responded, “Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

It might appear the Pharisees were encouraging Nicodemus to learn the truth for himself. After all, they said, “Search and see.” But they weren’t interested in the truth. Before he could search anything, they told him the answer they had already decided on.

Those who love and value the truth don’t just dictate it to others. They encourage others to read, study and understand God’s Word. If we want to know Jesus, and if we want others to know Him, we should genuinely want to “search and see” and learn the Lord’s Word.

When do we experience the most growth? What are the ideal conditions for personal growth? It might surprise us that the best soil for growth is often that of struggle and hardship. In Genesis, God frequently commands His creation to “Be fruitful and multiply.” God promised to make Abraham “exceedingly fruitful.” However, one of the first mentions of fruitfulness comes in Genesis 41:52 when Joseph (the man sold into slavery by his brothers) says, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” It was in Egypt—not the promised homeland of Canaan—that Jacob’s descendants truly began to be fruitful and multiply. What a picture of how life often works!

As Christians, we also should be fruitful and multiply. We should bear spiritual fruit and share the gospel so the kingdom multiplies. But we often seek to do this in comfort and ease. Don’t be afraid of hardship and struggle—some of the greatest growth we can achieve will likely come via God’s grace through trials and challenges.