Love Is Not Jealous and Does Not Brag
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September 16, 2012 |
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 "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant." (1 Corinthians 13:4)
Envy and jealousy have a very evil influence on our Christian lives. In most of cases, we don't feel jealous of unfamiliar people. We usually feel envious of close friends or people with whom we have rivalry. For instance, if a person runs a restaurant, he may not feel jealous of an office worker who gains recognition in the company. But he feels nervous and jealous when another restaurant that serves the same kind of cuisine has many customers.
Also, extreme jealousy leads to envying with evil action. The same applies to bragging. When you want to brag and gain recognition, it causes quarrels, jealousy and envy.
Then, how can we achieve spiritual love that is not jealous and does not brag?
1. Love is not jealous
Extreme jealousy leads to envying others and may even result in evil actions towards them. If you feel uncomfortable when things go well with others and they receive love, it means you have jealousy and envy.
When your heart has jealousy and envy, your pride can be hurt seeing others who are wealthier or more talented than you. If a co-worker gets promoted rapidly but you remain a low-ranking employee, then you may feel bitterness and lose strength and desire to work. Jealousy and envy lead to discouragement. When you compare yourself with others with jealousy or envy it increases your sense of inferiority.
However, with spiritual love you can rejoice with the truth. This is because you feel happy as if it happens to you when something good happens to others. But if you get discouraged and lose strength, it shows that you have no love. It indicates you still have your 'self.' If your 'self' wants to receive love and gain recognition, your pride will be hurt and jealousy will arise in your heart.
When jealousy gets extreme, it naturally leads to evil words and actions that harm others. This is envying in action. It is included in the evident works of the flesh written in Galatians 5:19-21. So, envy then can make it harder to be saved.
For example, Saul, the first king of Israel, died miserably in envy toward David. David was a hero who saved his country from Goliath, the champion of the Philistines. He was almost 9'11" tall and fitted with bronze armor. He was the best warrior of the Philistines. He taunted God and the armies of Israel for 40 days. Nevertheless, Saul the king and the armies of Israel were just trembling with fear. Then, David made a sudden appearance and killed Goliath who insulted God by slinging a stone. In the end, Israel achieved a landslide victory and David was loved by the Israelites as a national hero.
Later, King Saul set David over the armies. But an incident stirred Saul's jealousy and envy. On the way back from killing the Philistines, David was being welcomed by countless people of Israel. Then, as recorded in 1 Samuel 18:7, some women came out and sang, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands". Hearing this, Saul got furious.
He said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" He looked at David with suspicion from that day on (1 Samuel 18:8-9). Afterwards, he tried to kill David. When Saul was suffering from an evil spirit he hurled a spear at David as he played the harp for him. He plotted to have David killed by the Philistines and commanded his best soldiers to kill David. He kept envying David and it was not until he died in the battle against the Philistines that he stopped envying him.
Job 4:8 reads, "According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it." Proverbs 14:30 KJV says, "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones." If you do evil, it returns like a boomerang. Diseases and disasters at home and in businesses may be faced in return for sowing evil. Jealousy and envy are only harmful to us and they are great obstacles that hinder us from coming into spirit. So we should pull them out completely.
2. Love does not brag
Bragging means to show off and boast of oneself. Most people want to brag if they have something better than others. This is because they want to get recognition and praise from others. They themselves hardly recognize and praise others' contributions. They think that their achievements will be hidden as much as others' are revealed and recognized, so they usually criticize others. Such bragging sometimes even leads to quarrels. You might think you will be elevated and recognized when you brag, but the result is the opposite.
1 John 2:15-16 reads, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
Here, 'the boastful pride of life' is a human attribute that wants to flaunt oneself according to the pleasures of this world. Men of flesh show off their prestigious family, fame, authority, expensive vehicles, houses, and jewels. There are those who brag about their close relationships with men of power or celebrities. This is because they put value in life on the Earth.
But what is the use of bragging about such things? Man has no advantage in all his work which he does under the sun as said in Ecclesiastes 1:2-3. Just as recorded in Psalm 103:15, life flies by like a flower of the field that blooms but ends up falling. With the pride of this world, we can't gain true value and life, but rather we become enemies of God and go the way of death.
3. Boast in the Lord
After casting off untruths that make us love the world, we won't have any desire to boast and possess wealth, earthly glory, or fame. 1 Corinthians 1:31 reads, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." It tells us to boast in the Lord for the glory of God, not for ourselves.
It's very advisable to boast of the cross of the Lord our Savior, talk about God-given grace, and give testimonies of receiving answers. This is because those things glorify God and plant faith and hope in people. If we boast in the Lord like this, God is pleased with us and repays us with blessings both in spirit and body.
But some of believers indirectly brag about themselves while they say that they give glory to God. They say they did such-and-such things and that is why they can receive this blessing. They give credit to themselves. So, Satan brings accusation against them and they sometimes fall into trials.
The source of the worldly pride can't give us eternal life and satisfaction. It rather stirs useless greed in us and leads us to destruction. But when we fill our hearts with hope for Heaven, strength to cast off the boastful pride of this world will come upon us. After we fill our hearts with the truths, fleshly boasting or the worldly things will become nothing. It is just like toys with which we play in childhood become nothing and other things too become trivial after we grow up.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:14, "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." As Paul said, I pray in the name of the Lord that you may lift up and brag about Jesus Christ who saved us and gave us Heaven!
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