The Spectrum of Love has nine
ingredients
"Love vaunteth not itself, is
not puffed up." - 1Corinthians
13:4
Patience . . . . . . "Love suffereth long."
Kindness . . . . . . "And is kind."
Generosity . . . . "Love envieth not."
*
Humility . . . . . . "Love vaunteth not itself, is
not puffed up."
Courtesy . . . . . . "Doth not behave itself
unseemly."
Unselfishness . . "Seeketh not her own."
Good Temper . . "Is not easily provoked."
Guilelessness . . "Thinketh no evil."
Sincerity . . . . . . "Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth."
And then, after having learned all that, you have to learn this further
thing, Humility-- to put
a seal upon your lips and forget what you have done. After you have been
kind, after Love has stolen forth into the world and done its beautiful
work, go back into the shade again and say nothing about it Love hides even
from itself. Love waives even self-satisfaction. "Love vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up."
-
Henry Drummond, (1851-1897), The Greatest Thing in the
World
Click here to go to the complete book -
Love -
The Greatest Thing in the World
- 
Love Does Not Brag
When the loving person is himself successful he does
not boast of it. He does not brag.
Perpereuomai ("to brag") is used nowhere else in the New Testament
and means to talk conceitedly. Love does not parade its
accomplishments. Bragging is the other side of jealousy. Jealousy is
wanting what someone else has. Bragging is trying to make others
jealous of what we have. Jealousy puts others
down; bragging builds us up. It is ironic that, as much as
most of us dislike bragging in others, we are so inclined to brag
ourselves.
The Corinthian believers were spiritual show-offs,
constantly vying for public attention. They clamored for the most
prestigious offices and the most glamorous gifts. They all wanted to
talk at once, especially when speaking esctatically. Most of their
tongues-speaking was counterfeit, but their bragging about it was
genuine. They cared nothing for harmony, order, fellowship,
edification, or anything else worthwhile. They cared only for
flaunting themselves. "What is the outcome then, brethren? When you
assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation,
has a tongue, has an interpretation" (1 Cor. 14:26). Each did his
own thing as prominently as possible, in total disregard for what
others were doing.
Charles Trumbull once vowed: "God, if you will give
me the strength, every time I have the opportunity to introduce the
topic of conversation it will always be Jesus Christ." He had only
one subject that was truly worth talking about. If Christ is first
in our thoughts, we cannot possibly brag.
C. S. Lewis called bragging "the utmost evil. "It is
the epitome of pride, which is the root sin of all sins. Bragging
puts ourselves first. Everyone else, including God, must therefore
be of less importance to us. It is impossible to build ourselves up
without putting others down. When we brag, we can be "up" only if
others are "down."
Jesus was God incarnate, yet never exalted Himself in
any way." Although He existed in the form of God, [He] did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a bond-servant, and. . .being found in appearance
as a man, He humbled Himself" (Phil. 2:6-8). Jesus, who had
everything to boast of, never boasted. In total contrast, we who
have nothing to boast of are prone to boast. Only the love that
comes from Jesus Christ can save us from flaunting our knowledge,
our abilities, our gifts, or our accomplishments, real or imagined.
- John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament
Commentary, 1st Corinthians
