Chronicles of Love, Part V
"...IT DOES NOT BOAST, IT IS NOT PROUD..."
Sometimes we don't get things the first time. Bill Cosby tells tales about children and how parents often have to repeat instruction over and over, and the child still doesn't obey. I think he called it "brain damage."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyMSc97UksM
Scholars tell us that the Hebrew culture was used to hearing things repeated several times for emphasis. If it was important enough, it was told in story format, using three different stories, such as Jesus' parallel parable of the sheep, the coin and the wayward son.
It's rather convenient that Paul found it necessary to present parallel phrases to get this point across...perhaps he was trying to make sure we didn't miss it? First, he said that to love we must learn not to be envious (see last week's blog), then he instructs against boasting and pride. As different as they are, all three of these things (envy, boasting, & pride) are still very much the same. It's all about selfishness. Paul is hammering home some ideas that correlate, though they are each different forms of selfishness.
But think about it: would you be jealous of what others had, boastful of your own blessings, or proud of your accomplishments or your own plight in this temporal life, if selfishness was the furthest thing from your character? And apparently, Paul also feels that if the love of God has a stronger hold on your life, than these things wouldn't exist or at the very least would begin to diminish.
I think it could be fair to say that if we can't be disciplined enough to make these unwanted traits diminish, God may very well find himself repetitively teaching us this painful lesson in other ways. And possibly not so pleasant ways, at that.
Often the best way to avoid falling into selfish ruts is to spend your idle time pursuing the Spiritual disciplines. These invoke concern for things that are bigger than us, and often causes us to regenerate concern for a lost and dying world as our true calling in life. As we prepare for a church-wide fast a few weeks away, I encourage each of you to seriously contemplate how this may look in your own life. May God bless you as you seek Him.
Suggested read: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Sometimes we don't get things the first time. Bill Cosby tells tales about children and how parents often have to repeat instruction over and over, and the child still doesn't obey. I think he called it "brain damage."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyMSc97UksM
Scholars tell us that the Hebrew culture was used to hearing things repeated several times for emphasis. If it was important enough, it was told in story format, using three different stories, such as Jesus' parallel parable of the sheep, the coin and the wayward son.
It's rather convenient that Paul found it necessary to present parallel phrases to get this point across...perhaps he was trying to make sure we didn't miss it? First, he said that to love we must learn not to be envious (see last week's blog), then he instructs against boasting and pride. As different as they are, all three of these things (envy, boasting, & pride) are still very much the same. It's all about selfishness. Paul is hammering home some ideas that correlate, though they are each different forms of selfishness.
But think about it: would you be jealous of what others had, boastful of your own blessings, or proud of your accomplishments or your own plight in this temporal life, if selfishness was the furthest thing from your character? And apparently, Paul also feels that if the love of God has a stronger hold on your life, than these things wouldn't exist or at the very least would begin to diminish.
I think it could be fair to say that if we can't be disciplined enough to make these unwanted traits diminish, God may very well find himself repetitively teaching us this painful lesson in other ways. And possibly not so pleasant ways, at that.
Often the best way to avoid falling into selfish ruts is to spend your idle time pursuing the Spiritual disciplines. These invoke concern for things that are bigger than us, and often causes us to regenerate concern for a lost and dying world as our true calling in life. As we prepare for a church-wide fast a few weeks away, I encourage each of you to seriously contemplate how this may look in your own life. May God bless you as you seek Him.
Suggested read: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Thanks for the reminder
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