Hello again,

Now all that snow here on the East Coast (and in Aberdeen) is melting… and it is causing a squishy, muddy mess in my yard. How is your yard? Fret not, the sogginess allows us to sail along to greater understandings of love… true love. In knowing about love, we can see if we love others as we ought. And more importantly, the condition and manner of our love reveals the state of our faith.

Can you believe we are still on a single verse again this week? Here we go…

1^st Corinthians 13:4b
…love… is not puffed up…

“Puffed up”, hmmm… I think of conceited, full of one’s self, haughty, proud, big-headed… I also think of bullfrogs puffing out their throat sacks and turkeys fluffing their feathers, oh yeah and $5 clouds of cotton candy at the carnival that really only cost pennies to produce. All these things to me scream “Bigger is Better”. What comes to your mind when you ponder “puffed up”?

Here’s the Greek: physioō; and it means “to inflate, blow up, to cause to swell up”.

So if I plug that meaning into the verse it reads: Love is not inflated/ love is not blown up/ love is not swelled up.  Lemme think of how this works out in our everyday living…

Okay, say you have your priorities pretty straight. Say your humming right along in your Christian walk… or even for some of you non-Christians, you’re feeling pretty good about whatever you’re doing… and then it happens…

You think, “I’m making a positive contribution to this”, and “I really wasn’t making much of a difference then, but I know I am now.”, and also you begin to proclaim things you have done to other people because how would they know otherwise.

But stop and ask yourself this: Why do I want to let other people know? Why do I need other people to know?  In other words, why put forth accounts of good deeds rather than respond to inquiries of good deeds, or why volunteer stories of your acts of love rather than wait to be asked about them? Examine your motivations.

See how subtle pride is? It cannot stand anonymity. It longs to be puffed up. Love intertwined with pride is not pure love, but mixed with self-glory seeking. And you know, even recognizing it does not inoculate us from engaging in it. As fallen and corrupted sinful human beings, I am afraid we’ll battle this till our death. Yet by the Holy Spirit’s inner working, pride-deflating humility will (and must) characterize the true believer’s walk in ever-increasing degrees.

Resist the things that tend to puff you up… recognition for your acts of love. It is okay if no other person ever knows… and here is why…

Matthew 6:3-4
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

**Comments/ questions/ testimonies/ objections most encouraged!

Dear Lord, thank you for this time to consider Your word and Your ways. May our thoughts, words, and deeds bring You glory… and glory to You alone. –Amen

Peace,
Jim