Love Is Not Arrogant (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Today's scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is not arrogant.

Other versions say, “love is not proud.”  Love means not thinking too highly of oneself. Paul defines this so well in Philippians 2:3-4:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Lowliness of mind doesn’t mean we’re to be doormats; rather, it means we’re to love as Christ loved, with a servant’s heart: 

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Phil. 2:5-8)

Loving without arrogance requires an attitude of humility.

Are you able to truly rejoice in the blessings others experience? Are you willing to serve in the background if that’s what God calls you to do? Will you serve as Christ did, with a humble servant’s heart?

Then you’ll love without being arrogant.

Consider the Heavens (Psalm 8:3-5)

Today's scripture: Psalm 8:3-5

When was the last time you sat and stared at a starlit sky? Marveled at its beauty? Considered the vastness of God’s creation?

It’s pretty humbling, isn’t it?

It’s time like this when the question of the psalmist becomes my question: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” In other words, “Why do You care about us? What’s so great about sinful, flawed us?”

The main reason? Because He loves us.

God, the Creator of all things, who set each star in its place, who created mountains and seas and deserts … He is mindful of me. He thinks of me. He loves me. Tiny-speck-of-a-person me. And He loves tiny-speck-of-a-person you, too. He has made us just lower than the flawless beings the Bible calls angels. And He honors us as His specially-created children.

Think about how much God loves you the next time you look at a starlit sky. Or an ocean. Or a mountain. Or a flower. Or even the reflection in your own mirror.