"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." -1 Corinthians 13:3 (ESV)
As I continue on with this article series, I have been challenged by my friend Jennifer Odom, the author of Stepping in Light, -which is a wonderful site for those who love a wonderful, deep Biblical study-, to write an entire article without the use of the letter "G". I have also asked her to do the same, but with the letter "L". I would like to ask you to visit her website, and read some of her articles.
As I left off last week's article with "love does not envy", the next on the list, of course, is that love does not boast. We can become absorbed, sometimes, in what we do. It can be easy to come to be lost in all that we do, and want to tell everyone just how wonderful and fantastic we are, but the fact that others are hard workers as well, can slip our memories. It is crucial that we, as Christians, do not fall into this habit. Of course it is okay if we are excited about what we do, but we don't need to exalt our own selves, rather our Father in heaven. Matthew 20:16 says, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Do you have this attitude? Do you offer others your support, or do you walk around, as the Pharisee did in Luke 18:9-14, and boast in all that you do? Love does not boast, or make it so that we seem above everyone else.
Next on the list is pompousness, which has a lot to do with the previous point, so I won't really delve into full detail. Have you ever met someone who was so cocky and presumptuous that they couldn't seem to exist for more than two minutes without the mention of how wonderful they are? Did you seem to enjoy the company of that certain individual? The point of love is not to serve ourselves, but others. How are we supposed to serve others if we only speak of ourselves, and what we have done?
Third, and last of all for this article, is that love is not rude. As Christians, we are to show others that we respect them, and that we, of course, love them. The reason that we dress well, not to reveal our bodies, or to show everyone how much we have (1 Timothy 2:9) is because it is important that we show others that we care about them, and not only about ourselves. It is because we want to show them that they are appreciated, and that we care about them. How can we show others that we appreciate them if we constantly strive to put them down? It can be easy, if we don't like someone all that well, to always try to make a comment here and there and make them feel uncomfortable. It's easy, and can become a habit if we don't take care of it soon enough. But as Christians, we need to build each other up. We need to help others towards heaven, because that's our mission here on Earth anyway, isn't it (Matthew 28:18-20)?
Today I would like to inspire you to take these into consideration, and ask yourself if you do them. If so, put them away from you. Fill up your life with love, and show others that you love and care about them. Even if it's as simple as a smile on your face and a "How are you, today?", it can make someone's day. Today I would like to ask you all to have more love, and less hate. Wouldn't the world be a better place without it?
