It is written:
1 Corinthians 13:4-Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
The Corinthians had some serious issues in their church family and most of them stemmed from the fact that many of them were self-centered. They were “puffed up.”
Throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul discusses how the Corinthians were “puffed up.”
1 Corinthians 4:6-Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.
1 Corinthians 4:18-Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
1 Corinthians 4:19-But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
1 Corinthians 5:2-And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
The idea of being “puffed up” is that of elevating one’s own accomplishments over against the accomplishments of others. This was a serious issue with the Corinthians, and love does not behave in this way.
In many ways, this has always been a problem with humanity. How often do we proudly proclaim that what we have is the work of our hands? I still remember years ago while doorknocking for a Gospel meeting I became acquainted with a gentleman who lived in a mansion. He had a Corvette in his drive way, and a beautiful family. When I told him I was there inviting him and his family to hear the Good News of Jesus, he grinned at me and pointed at his house and said, “What else do I need?”
It was perhaps for this reason that God instructed Moses to tell the people of Israel these words:
Deuteronomy 8:11-18-Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—. 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
No matter what accomplishments you have in this world, your blessings all go back to God-in one way or another!
So instead of boasting about our accomplishments, we should use our time to grow in love and to appreciate and help others.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
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