If I speak in the tongues Or languages of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, 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. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13, NIV
Dear Christian,
Many of us have probably heard the phrase “I’d die for you”. I want to think about that idea for a bit. Who is on your list of people that you would die for? Perhaps your children? A family member? Maybe a few close friends?
In this context, I believe the ‘not proud’ portion is talking about humility. There is no place for a big ego when it comes to Godly love.
Jesus embodied this idea to the fullest. Phillipians 2:5-8 breaks this down better than I could.
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.”
Philippians 2:5-8 MSG
Jesus lives out “I’d die for you” and not just for his friends. For everyone.
I want to go back to my first question. How many people were on your list? Are you willing to die for the person that cut you off in traffic? What about your high school bully?
I can’t say that I would be willing. But until writing this, I wouldn’t have said I was particularly proud either. I guess I have some more work to do. How about you?
Humbly,
Ashley
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