Love Does Not Boast

Love Does Not Boast
I Corinthians 13:4

There are several ways to say it; brag, gloat, glorify your own name, but what it boils down to is lifting yourself above others, and letting them know about it. When you boast, you are telling others, “I’m right, and you’re wrong, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” (To borrow a line from the movie Matilda)
When we boast, we are putting ourselves above everyone else, and that there is no one better. True love is all about putting others first, but boasting says you don’t need anyone else to be great, and that includes the help of God. God made us to be interdependent with each other; not dependent, or completely independent; but when we tell others that we are great on our own, and that we don’t need them, they will turn their backs on us and we will fail. If you notice, I didn’t say “Might fail”, or “probably fail”, because, like it or not, we need each other.
When you boast, you imagine that the whole world must bow down to your greatness, when the reverse is true. People will be repulsed by your cockiness.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be happy, or excited, by your accomplishments; you should. I would even go so far to say that you should share it. Before you do, however, you should make sure your motivation is correct. If you tell others of your accomplishments to glorify yourself, or to make others love you more, then you shouldn’t say anything at all. If you are telling others of your accomplishments, to motivate them to pursue the same excitement, then you are sharing, and you should continue.
When you do share for motivation, you need to do so with respect, and you need to let the recipient know that you think of that individual as an equal, or they will never hear a word you say.
1st Corinthians 13 is all about love, and how can you love others when you are so busy selfishly building yourself up.
In the next blog, I will continue the series on love.