Love Does Not Boast

Hi Everyone,

Today's topic is boasting.  When I looked this word up in the dictionary, one of the definitions was to brag about yourself or to brag about your stuff to others (that's the Minion translation).  It's interesting because it is very similar to pride but we will talk about pride in the next post.  Again, I want you to notice that bragging is an action, not a feeling.  We don't feel bragging, we say something that is bragging.  So what does this mean?

We all know the one upper.  In fact, sometimes we have been the one upper.  You know the person.  If you tell as story, they have a bigger one.  If something good happened to you, something better happened to them.  So we shouldn't brag about things in our life right?  Well if that's the case, then we should never tell anyone when something good happens to us or when we do something great right?  Wrong!  I want to stop and say that just because you tell someone about something you have or did, does not make it bragging.  When you tell a story to puff yourself up, that's bragging.

Let's look at God for a minute.  If God is love and love doesn't brag, then what happens all the times in the Bible where God talks about who he is and what he's done?  Is he bragging?  Certainly not.  When we brag, we normally do it to impress people and I don't think the Creator of the universe needs to impress His creation.  So what is He doing?  He's trying to build our faith.  When God tells you something about Himself, it's not because He's trying to brag.  He wants you to know that He's able to provide all things so that when you have lack, you can trust in and rely on Him.  He wants you to know that He can heal people so that when you are sick, you will go to Him for healing.  He wants you to know that He created everything so that when you need anything, you can go to Him.

So here's what I have learned today.  There's a difference between bragging and telling someone about something that's happened to you.  That difference is motive.  When you brag, you want people to look at you and how great you are.  When you tell someone about something great that you did or happened to you and you do it to encourage them, then it's called ministry not bragging.

Let me finish by asking you this question.  Do you find yourself ministering or bragging when you tell people what's happening with you?  I know there are places in my own life where I can do this better.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Love Doesn't Envy

Hello Everyone,

Today we are going to think about something love doesn't do.  As I said earlier, love is an action verb.  The feeling of being in love is great but it's not the core of Love (God).

For this particular aspect of Love, it's interesting because it's something Love doesn't do.  Love doesn't envy someone else or something else they have.  This should be another easy one right?  Well in one sense that's true.  But let me encourage you to check yourself on this and see if there are any hidden areas of envy in your life.  I know I have found them in mine.

Let me give you a couple of examples.  I go to a gym and work out every day during the week.  I run in the morning before work and I lift weights with a little more cardio at lunch.  I'm in decent shape for 46 years old but the truth is I'm not as fast as I used to run and I'm 30 pounds overweight at the moment.  So what happens in the gym?  I can walk in and see someone working out who is in better shape than me.  Every once in a while, the devil will put a thought in my mind that says there is something I don't like about that person.  I don't like the way the act or how much they talk.  I don't like the way the hog up all the machines.  I don't like how long it takes them to get a set done and get out of my way.  Well here is what the Lord showed me about that one day.  What someone was doing or not wasn't the cause of my irritation.  What irritated me is that they were in better shape than me.  My envying of a person didn't come across as envy.  It came across as something else.

Let me tell on myself again.  I could be driving down the road and see someone speed past me or cut me off in traffic by getting into my lane and get upset with them.  This happened more times than not if the person was driving a really nice car.  I might even say under my breath something about how they think they are special or privileged, etc., because they were speeding or something else (which I have done myself on more than one occasion).  That seems logical right?  They should slow down and should be more careful in traffic.  But the truth behind what made me mad was they were driving a car and I was jealous of them because it looked like they had more money than me.

So what's the big deal with being jealous right?  After all, while I am not being loving toward either of those people, I am certainly not hurting them and neither of them knew I even had a thought?  Well, even if you don't say something hurtful to someone, this is still very damaging - TO ME.  Why?  Well, it blocks the flow of love out of my life and into someone else.  While that's bad enough, it also caused me to be unsatisfied with what I had.  Think about it.  Instead of enjoying the fact that I am in good health and the Lord has blessed us tremendously financially and every other way, I was unsatisfied and couldn't enjoy what I had.

So let me ask you this.  Are there any areas in your life where you might be secretly envious of someone else?  If so, I encourage you to get rid of it.  Envying is really dangerous to your health.

That's another Opinion of the Minion