1Corinthians 13:4-7 Status Update: Jesus, You're Killing Me!

Proposition: God's love is not just in us to make us nicer but to kill the person we used to be and make us a totally new person in Christ.

“4 Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity braggs not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; 6 Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

True LOVE is not proud.  There's a distinction between Pride (the root; means insubordination to God) & bragging (the fruit).  Bragging is hot air which comes from the furnace of a proud heart.  Bragging is the attempt to make others jealous.

Proverbs tells us pride produces such things as contention, strife (13:10) and destruction (16:18).  Pride can be hard to detect though.  Who doesn't appreciate some form of being admired or people noticing our successes? What strategies have you developed for minimizing your failures and maximizing your successes? Do you often find yourself subtly drawing the conversation back to you?

Do you ever exercise false humility or pretend to be humble (Col 2:18)? Remember, we don't just flip pride on and off, pride is deeply rooted in our hearts and God is working to kill our deep craving for self-exultation. God is changing our hearts so we choose to the role of servant instead of making others inferior to us. As we do good works and serve others we are actually humbled. We begin to realize without Jesus we would not even desire to do these things (I Cor. 15:10).

True LOVE is not rude. The word for Rude means unbecoming, shameful, unattractive, graceless with no concern for what others like and dislike.  The word used in Bible/Greek Literature means sinful and degrading sex acts and excrement. 1Corinthians 7:36...also seems to indicate a lack of consideration for what is customary. 

Paul rebuked Corinthian rudeness.  Vs. 10 Not considering the weaknesses of younger believers (Just eat!) vs. 11 Women attempting to blur gender distinctions in worship...dishonored husbands publicly and shaming the poor by eating up all the food (right before the Lord's Supper).  Vs. 14 Everyone talking in tongues at once (it’s rude to talk/cut off when another is talking).

Jesus gave us an excellent example in Luke 7:36-50 (he shielded the prostitute from the pharisees' rudeness). Why do religious people think it's okay to treat lost people rudely? Why do Christians think it's okay to not care about the joy of other believers? Love cares too much about the joy of others to behave in shameful and disgraceful ways.

True LOVE is not easily provoked. This conveys the idea of being irritated or quickly angered. You know why we're easily provoked...because we're self-centered.  Jesus was an interesting case, in Matthew 27:13-14, in front of Pilate he was lied about and didn't even open His mouth.  He showed God's astounding ability to refrain from sinful anger.  In John 2:14-17 He drove people from the temple with a whip. He showed God was not indifferent toward sin or the mistreatment of others

So what are we to learn? James 1:19-20 says our (human) wrath does not work God's righteousness.  Anger is not always sinful (Eph 4:26) and we can be moved to act when others are mistreated or God's glory is shamed.  We just need to do so patiently!

Here are some gospel steps to help with pride, rudeness and anger...

*Trust the work Jesus already did...Believe the Gospel/Holy Spirit
*Read and pray over Scriptures which deal with these traits – renew mind
*Get help from the church body - accountability

Songs With This Lesson
For Your Goodness Lord
Your Love O Lord
Beneath The Cross
Hallelujah