DAILY BREAD OF LIFE…..
MONDAY 9TH NOV., 2020
WORD FOCUS: LOVE IS NOT BOASTFUL OR PROUD
TEXT: Romans 3:27 “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith…..”
Apostle Paul in the book of Romans 3:27 answers the Jews and likewise those that have not yet giving their lives to christ; only the law of faith can forgive man’s sin and cancel the death penalty but, not the law of works. Faith alone in Christ can because, all men have sinned.Hence to be boastful or proud connotes; to express pride by way of ones actions or attitude or ones accomplishment. Having a high opinion of oneself or seeing oneself larger than life.The apostle in 1cor 13;5 exhorts us that “love does not parade itself, is not puffed up”. Parading of oneself is a mark of pride. The expression “proud as a peackock” describes the manner in which the peacock fans his multicolored tail feathers and displays them as he struts. The same phenomenon is exhibited among wild turkeys. During the mating season, when the male gobbler tries to entice a hen, he not only struts, but also fans his tail feathers and “puffs” himself up to appear much larger than normal.
Paul warned against the kind of knowledge that puffs up and contrasted it with love in (1Cor 8:1-3):
“Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him” In other words, knowledge without love breeds arrogance. Knowledge, like riches, can be paraded for the applause of men. Such knowledge parades about without its more modest partner, wisdom.
By contrast, the mark of authentic love is humility. Humility does not know how to strut. That is to walk with an air of pomposity.
The humility of love relates first to God. When saints in Scripture referred to themselves as worms or dogs, they were not indulging in false modesty but were viewing themselves in the light of the distance in glory between themselves and their Creator. Let us consider the response after God spoke to Job and unveiled His glory.
(Job 40:1-5) When Job saw himself against the backdrop of the omnipotent God, he declared himself to be vile. But his self-abasement reached an even greater dimension after God’s further self-discosure: (42:1-6)
This type of self-abasement runs counter to the self-esteem and narcissism that defines the times we are in now. We fear that humility will destroy our confidence and good self-image. But definitely, our self-image should be a reflection of the image of God. Sin has so tarnished that image that when we look to the standard, God’s character, we are driven to humility.
Remember that the humility of love relates not only to view ourselves in contrast to God; it also touches our view of ourselves with respect to other people. We are admonished to always have sober evaluation of ourselves as much as we can as believers: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among your, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Rom. 12:3-5).
In the context of the church; the body of Christ, we are expected to display a love that prefers others to ourselves. This is one of the most difficult, yet important, demands of agape . Brothers and Sisters do not boast in these things’ ’your riches and wealth power,plans,strength, security etc only in the Lord God .Have a blessed day.
MEDITATION: 2Cor 10:12-18
STUDY THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
TIT 2: JER 15&16; PS 126
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Godhead Interdenominational Ministry