Love Is Not Arrogant (Love Is Not Puffed Up) Series

INTRODUCTION

- As we continue with our Love Better series, this series seeks to answer two underlying questions.

- What can I do to live with Christians better?

- What can I do to love people in my community better?

- In our journey to answer those two questions, today we will see from 1 Corinthians 13:4 that love is not puffed up, or as many versions translate the word, love is not arrogant.

- The Christians in the Corinthian church struggled to love one another, in part because of the diverse backgrounds the people came from.

SLIDE #1- PUFF FISH TITLE

- To build on the thought that love is not arrogant, we will dig into a passage in Philippians 3:8-21.

- Philippians 3:8-21 is part of a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Christian community in Philippi, a city in Macedonia.

- This letter was written while Paul was in prison, around AD 60-62, possibly in Rome or Ephesus.

- In this passage, Paul discusses the value of knowing Christ and the righteousness that comes through faith in Him, contrasting it with the worldly achievements that were once important to him.

- Let’s look at the word translated as arrogant or puffed up, which is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4.

SLIDE #2- BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

- The Greek word is only used seven times in the New Testament, all by Paul.

- The word is used six times in 1 Corinthians, usually in reference to pride and arrogance in the church.

- The word is used once in Colossians in a warning against false teachers.

- How do we define arrogance?

SLIDE #3- ARROGANCE DEFINED

- The Greek word “f?s???” (phusioó) (FOO SHEE OLE) means “to puff up” or “to inflate.”

- It derives from the root “f?s??” (phusaó), (FOO SEE CEASE) which signifies “to blow” or “to inflate,” related to breath or wind.

SLIDE #4- THE METAPHOR OF ARROGANCE.

- The word is often used metaphorically to describe arrogance or pride.

- The word's root is used metaphorically, extending to ego and pride.

SLIDE #5- PROBLEM WITH PUFFED-UP- TOO MUCH WORK.

- One problem with being puffed up is that it takes a lot of work to stay puffed up because we naturally leak.

- This is one reason that when we struggle with this problem, our ego or arrogance tends to grow larger and larger as we seek to stay ahead of the leak.

SLIDE #6- EASY TO POP

- Naturally, once a balloon is overinflated, it pops easily.

- This is part of the reason that one who is puffed up gets angry when they get popped.

SLIDE #7- TOO HARD OT LIVE WITH

- When someone is puffed up, they are hard to live with.

- People who are puffed up are hard to handle.

- When you have a bunch of inflated balloons, it is hard to get them into the car because they all want to do their own thing.

- People who are puffed up are annoying and not fun to be around.

- So, how can we avoid being puffed up?

- That is the question we will examine in our text.

- Let’s go there together.

Philippians 3:8–9 NET 2nd ed.

8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ,

9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.

SERMON

You can avoid being puffed up if you:

SLIDE #8- POINT 1 SLIDE

I. Remember Who You Serve.

- In the first part of chapter three, Paul warns the people about false teachers who boast about their credentials to get people to listen to them.

- In verses 4-6, Paul lists the reasons he could be puffed up about his background.

- The false teachers relied on their resumes to impress people.

- On the other hand, Paul looked at his past as meaningless because he now knew that Jesus was all he needed.

- God is the God above all, and He is our ultimate master.

- In verse 8, Paul punctuated his point by saying that no matter how great his personal accomplishments were, compared to knowing Jesus as his Lord, all those accomplishments, the impressive resume he had, were nothing but a liability compared to Jesus.

SLIDE #9- HUMBLE SERVICE

- In verse 8, Paul mentions he has willingly given up everything he once held dear “for his sake” (referring to Christ).