Wednesday, July 12, 2006
"Love does not envy; love does not parade itself" (1 Corinthians 13:4).
IDEA: Envy and boasting are really two sides of the same coin.
In 1 Corinthians 13:4, Paul makes the statement that “Love does not envy; love does not boast” or parade itself.
Why do you think he puts these two side by side?
What is the relationship that envy and boasting have to one another?
Which do you think is more destructive to relationships?
I. In 1 Corinthians 12:14, Paul makes the statement that the human body is not made up of one part but of many. That seems obvious. Look at the implications of that obvious illustration:
In 12:14-19, Paul says that there are some gifts that seem to sulk:
“If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?”
What is the tendency of people whose gifts seem less obvious than others?
Paul goes on with the illustration, saying in vv. 21-26,
“The eye cannot say to the hand, 'O have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'
What is he driving at in this illustration?
II. Paul says that if a body with its many members does not have love so that the members are concerned for one another, then the body is in serious trouble.
Envy and boasting separate us from other members of the body by thinking that we are less important or more important than others.
Envy wants to be more than it is, while boasting wants the other person to feel his superiority. Both are deadly to a body, to a church, to any organization.