Alba 11-23-2025
LOVE IS NOT BOASTFUL OR PROUD
I Corinthians 13:4
According to a story in the Grand Rapids Press sometime ago, when foreign cars were new to the U.S., the owner of a small foreign car had begun to irritate his friends by bragging incessantly about his good gas mileage. So they decided on a way to get some humor out of his tireless boasting, as well as bring it to an end.
Every day, one of them would sneak into the parking lot where the man kept his car and pour a few gallons of gas into the tank. Soon the braggart was recording absolutely phenomenal mileage. He was boasting of getting as much as 90 miles per gallon. And the pranksters took secret delight in his exasperation as he tried to convince people of the truthfulness of his claims. It was even more fun to watch his reaction when they stopped refilling the tank. The poor fellow couldn’t figure out what had happened to his car. He had boasted. Then he was humbled.
God often humbled people before He made them great. In James 4:6 we’re told “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Before Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt, he had to spend time as a slave and be cast into an Egyptian prison. Before Moses, who grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, ever became the great deliverer and leader of Israel, he had to spend years as a shepherd in the fields of Midian, a very humbling experience. Dwight L. Moody said this about Moses. “He spent his first forty years thinking he was somebody. He spent his second forty years learning he was a nobody. He spent his third forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”
And before Saul of Tarsus became the great apostle to the Gentiles and wrote most of the New Testament, he had to be humbled on the Damascus Road by the blinding flash of light from heaven, and the voice of the resurrected Lord. I admire the apostle Paul because all throughout his ministry, he never glosses over the fact that he once persecuted Christians. Again and again he reminds himself and us, “I am the chief of sinners, saved by the grace of God.” Paul learned that humility is a very important part of our love relationship. That is probably why in First Corinthians 13:4 Paul says that "Love does not boast, it is not proud" (NIV).
And yet, humility is often belittled today. We are much more concerned with feeling good about ourselves, being proud of ourselves, and boasting about our accomplishments. Politicians brag about what they have done, and assure you that if you will vote for them again that they will accomplish even more. Too often their boasts don't live up to their words.
Being boastful and proud can get you into trouble. Perhaps you’ve heard of the guy who took a first aid course and was so proud of his accomplishment in completing it. No sooner had he finished it than he came upon an accident in which a person was injured.
He rushed over to where the injured person was being attended to by a woman, and took charge. He shoved everybody aside, including the woman, and said, “Give me room. I’ve just finished a first aid course and I know what to do.” He knelt down beside the injured person and started doing what he could. The woman he had pushed away stood there a few moments and then said, “When you get to that point in your first aid training where it says, 'Call the doctor', I’ll be right here.” That man needed to stop for a moment and ask some questions.
There are times we need to stop and remember who we are, because we are in the presence of the Lord. That would help us develop proper humility. The key goal of those who boast is to exalt themselves…to exalt themselves either for the purpose of creating envy in others, or for the purpose of furthering their ambitions in life. Bragging is their way of trying to manipulate the people around them.
That kind of thinking runs completely against everything God tries to teach us. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up”. I think it is alright to feel good about ourselves. I think it is okay to consider our accomplishments. But instead of trying to lift ourselves in the view of others, isn't it better to let the Lord do that? It is much better for us to seek the praise of God rather than the praise of people. We are called to love one another. And if love is not boastful or proud...
We should not boast
In the context of this verse in I Corinthians 13:4, it describes how love behaves. It doesn’t boast or draw attention to itself arrogantly. Think, if a husband of wife were to act like that, what it would do to the marriage. But this describes a humble kind of love. A true love doesn't seek to exalt itself over others. It's not about self-glorification or seeking attention. Instead, real love focuses on the well-being and honor of the other person. It's a humble, self-giving kind of love that doesn't try to overshadow or outdo others.
The New King James Version on verse four does not use the word “boast”. Instead it says that love, “does not parade itself.” And if you have the King James Version it uses the word “vaunt”. So what is that? The word vaunt comes from the Latin meaning “vain” or “empty.” To vaunt is to brag and boast and flaunt and go on and on about how great something is. It's over-the-top showing off, and if you exaggerate your greatness, you vaunt to the point of no longer seeming so great.
To vaunt, brag or boast means taking praise too far or talking something up too much. Even if its earned or deserved bragging, vaunting about something gets old and loses its impact. It is a sure sign that a hard sell is going on, someone is talking big but can't deliver.
And again in the New King James Version, instead of the word “proud”, it says “puffed up”. Doesn't that give you a visual picture of what a boastful, proud person would look like? Sometimes we say that person is “Too big for their britches”. Puffed up. It gives the idea of a balloon rising up and blowing off in the wind. It is a real windy person. And some translations use the word “arrogant”. But is the problem just the irritation of listening to someone going on and on about themselves? Or is the problem something bigger?
There is nothing wrong with recognizing who we are and what we have done. We don't have to pretend we are something we are not, or pretend we have not accomplished what we have accomplished. The kind of boasting that is condemned in scripture is the kind that takes root in a person when they think they are greater than God. This type of boasting is rooted in the same type of pride that brought the Devil himself down. This is bad! As Christians, we cannot boast that way because we realize that all that we are or will be is a direct result of the Creator, the Mighty One.
But II Timothy 3:1-4 warns, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Here, boasting and pride are in a list of those who put self over trust in God. That is a list that we should want no part in. So...
Instead of prideful boasting we should be thankful
We are warned that boasting is wrong in Jeremiah 9:23, “This is what the Lord says: 'Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But then verse 24 does give us something we can boast about. “But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!'”
That's from the New Living Translation. The New King James Version uses the word “glory” rather than boast saying “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom... in his might... nor in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord.” If we brag on God, not on ourselves, this kind of boasting protects us from the sinful tendencies of pride and self-righteousness.
Ephesians 2:8-10 reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Salvation is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We can't take credit for what He did, nor think that we could earn our salvation.
The truth of the matter is that none of us could do enough. Because we have all sinned and fallen short of what God demands. That’s why God’s solution, that seems like foolishness to the world, is such wisdom. Now our salvation is no longer dependent upon us. If it were then none of us could ever be sure that we had done enough. There would always be questions about whether or not we might have slipped up, or if we failed to act when we should have, or if we had done everything necessary. Instead our hope, our comfort, our certainty rest on Jesus – the one who has done it all. That’s the wonderful message of the cross.
So instead of boasting, we can and should be thankful. Thankful that what God did at Calvary is enough for us. Thankful that the price Jesus paid for our sins was the right price. Thankful that when Jesus said it was finished, He meant it. Thankful that the law that accused us was nailed to the cross when He was. Thankful that the sacrifice for sins was offered and accepted.
So if we do boast, we should go around boasting about the goodness and the blessing of the Lord in our life. You can boast about all the wonderful things the Lord has accomplished in you and through you. Give Him credit. Boast that he has made you holy and righteous. Boast that he has made you wise for salvation. Boast that he has won your redemption. Boast not only in words, but boast also as you live lives that reflect that thankfulness in your hearts.
If you are wondering if you have the right kind of boasting in your life, here is how to tell if yours is selfish or holy. In Psalm 29:2 it says, “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” So do you glory in Jesus and what he has done in your life?
As the apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
May our boast be one of thankfulness that we have a God who loves us, that we have a God who has saved us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
CLOSE:
Boasting that is rooted in pride does not produce good fruit, it produces death and destruction.
As you know, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. An employee of the White Star Line, at the launch of the Titanic on May 31, 1911 is reported to have said, “Not even God himself could sink this ship.”
It was an idle boast that would, of course, prove catastrophically hollow within a few days. Through a combination of fateful human decisions, unforeseen events and a curious twist of fate, the ship’s vulnerability was cruelly exposed, and she sank in the space of two hours and 40 minutes, with the resultant loss of more than 1,500 lives.
How many times have individuals in the world said something boastful like that? We dare not lift ourselves above a God who loves us. I Corinthians 13:4 reminds us that we are called to be more loving. Being boastful and proud is out of place for the Christian. And it can lead to disaster.
Even our Lord humbled Himself and went to the cross. When Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life”, it was not a boast. It was the truth. His death on that cross made possible our salvation, providing the only way we could be forgiven. And He calls us to Himself.
