The Love Doctor 8: Love is not Proud

Brothers and Sisters, our society is so unGodly.  As I begin this weeks post, and I consider the content, I cannot help but think about how 'puffed up' our society is.  We almost always refer to pride as a positive thing.  Well, the bible calls it sin.  And according to our text, Love and Pride cannot coexist. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails.

Paul talks about love as a verb all through these verses.  The Greek terms for his words all communicate doing something.  But Paul says that love is not proud.  When we love something we must humble ourselves completely.  I believe the reason so many marriages fail is because we get married because we like the way the other person make us feel.  When that 'feeling' is gone, then we say we are not in love anymore.  The truth is that it was never love to begin with.  It was lust, it was infatuation, it was money, it was disillusionment, whatever it was it was not love.  If it is love, agape love, then it is NEVER ABOUT YOU!!!!!  That is something I am still having to learn, and continuously pray about.

Pride, as I have mentioned in a previous post, is a very wide doorway that leads to a multitude of other sins.  It is a 'gateway sin.'  Pride is the sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven.  When we deal in pride we elevate ourselves to a status that only God should possess.  In essence, the prideful man, or woman, is an idol worshipper, and that idol is themselves. 

From a human, physical standpoint, love and pride are almost polar opposites.  Conventional wisdom would put love opposite hate.  However, consider the actions of love and the actions of pride for a moment and dwell on the next few sentences.  When we act out of love, agape love, we are acting in a purely selfless manner.  Our sole motivation is the other or others who benefit from our love.  We submit our own will to that of our loved ones---whomever they may be.  Contrary, and I say again, opposite, of love, is pride.  When we act out of pride, we are acting purely out of self interest.  Prideful acts only edify, or enrich the self.  Think of poor Moses.  He was so faithful for so long, yet his pride, getting the better of him caused him to miss out on the promised land.  You see brothers and sisters, you cannot love, nor obey, God and still harbor your foolish pride.

Read Numbers 20:8-20:11 

Friends, love is selfless.  My wife takes our son out of her way every day to an off site school so he can take 2 classes that he really wanted to take.  She has to wake up early every morning, drive 20 minutes out of her way, sit in traffic, and then rush off to work.  She could have just told him to find some other classes to take.  But she does it out of love for him.  She profits nothing from her labor.  She actually looses out on sleep and gas money.  However, she has never complained because she does it out of love. 

From a spiritual standpoint, pride is deadly.  Not the earthly death we think about, but spiritual death.  Consider this, the reason Jesus was able to crucify your sin on that cross was because he loved us enough to put his own human will aside and do the will of God all of the time. He knew there was no other way. 

When we dare to consider our own greatness.  When we are foolish enough to adopt an attitude that celebrates our strength, our intelligence, our beauty, our accomplishments, our worldly possessions; then we spit in the face of God who made all of those things possible.  Pride causes us to worship the created thing and elevate it above the creator.

What then shall we say about all of the 'Pride propaganda' out there.  We must say it is not of God.  The next time you are so proud of yourself, or your children, or your spouse---put that glory where it belongs---give it to God.