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by Charlie Wolcott

“Love does not envy. It does not boast, it is not proud.” (1 Corinthians 13:4, NIV)
“Love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;” (1 Corinthians 13:4, NKJV)

Paul takes four angles in describing love: love is, love does, love is not, and love does not. Last week, I described how love is patient and love is kind. Then here Paul describes some of what love does not do. It is important to note that love is not merely an emotion or a state of being but primarily an action of choice. Paul spends more time describing what love does than he does describing what love is. The first two things Paul describes love doing are negative: love does not envy nor boast.

Love does not envy

Envy is one of the fabled Seven Deadly Sins. It is the desire and greed of that which someone else has, jealous that they have what you seek. Envy has a closely related sister: covetousness. The Tenth Commandment states “Thou shalt not covet…” and then gives a list of types of possessions, resources, and relationships. Envy is a breeding ground of many different dangerous behaviors: jealousy, paranoia, bitterness, greed, wrath, distrust, discontent, and many others. Little illustrates the contrast between envy and love better than the relationship between King Saul and David.

David had been anointed king of Israel, likely even before he began to serve Saul and before he slew Goliath. He was just a lad at the time. Yet, after the slaying of Goliath, David’s fame, praise, and honor began to surpass Saul and envy began to take root. To make a long story short, Saul became paranoid of losing his throne, which he knew would happen because Samuel had told him that, and he sought to kill David.

David, on the other hand, had legal right to the throne as per Samuel’s anointing. He could have easily desired Saul’s crown and had not merely one but two opportunities to kill Saul and claim the throne for himself. However, David loved Saul and recognized he was God’s anointed king. He would not make a move to take the throne, which was rightfully his, in his own strength or his own timing. Saul’s envy for David’s praise set him on a course into insanity. Yet David would not envy nor covet that which was rightfully his; and he waited patiently for God to take action in due time.

Envy is not limited to the heathen; it is rampant in the church today. All it takes to rear its ugly head is to see someone actually seek to walk the walk among a group who prefer mediocrity. When I wrote about Perfect Doctrine, I covered this issue with those who seek to bring those above them down to their level. Envy shows itself in mediocre Christians telling mature Christians to stop praying. It shows when those who only want to have to follow minimal doctrine try to silence those who call for repentance and speak truth.

Love does not envy. It does not get jealous of others in their possessions, their relationships, their prestige, or anything they have. It is important to note that not everything someone has is good for them. Riches can often be a curse. Reputations and the praise of man is all you are going to get if that is what you seek and it will be short-lived. This world will only shout your name as long as you give them what they want. As soon as someone else enters the picture, you are forgotten. Do not envy. Instead, lift up, build up, and edify others. If someone leaps ahead of you, encourage them to keep going and use that as motivation to step up your game too.

Love does not boast

Love is not interested in self-proclamation. It does not seek to bring attention to self. Love does not require you to build a platform and promote yourself. Love does not need publicity. Love does not go around telling people what you did. Love does not seek man’s approval. Love does not proclaim self’s value or self’s deeds.

Jesus gave a parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee boasted about all he did and how moral he was and even had the audacity to say how he was so much better than the nearby tax collector, who hung in the back and humbly confessed his sin before God. Every bit of good the Pharisee had done was wiped out because all of it was stained with pride, making it worthless.

Paul declared he could boast in one thing and one thing only: Jesus and what he did on that cross. Now, boasting is different than defending one’s case to preach. Paul had to show the Corinthian church why he was qualified as an apostle because false teachers were questioning his credentials. However, in that defense, he never pointed attention to himself and instead boasted about how God had put him in that place.

Here’s a way to illustrate that point a little more. A good friend of mine, Dr. Charles Jackson (most famous for his role in Genesis: Paradise Lost, and his upcoming project “Quantum”), has four science degrees (a bachelors, 2 masters, and a PhD). As he grew as a speaker for Creation, he realized he needed to also go for Mensa Society, the top 2% in IQ in the world. This was to boost his credentials. He told me he tried to take the test a second time to see if his first passing was truly legit and he just barely did. He said that was God’s way of keeping him humble. At that time, I too was asked about applying for Mensa because several think I am smart enough for that. I realized the only real reason I would have for doing that was not for credentials but rather to have a piece of paper to brag about. I have not taken the test, nor will I unless God makes it clear to do so, because all it would do is feed my ego. I likely would not use it to validate my authority in speaking as I should. I’m honestly not convinced I could pass that test anyway.

Whenever we minister to someone, a good rule of thumb is to get someone to think more about Jesus than about us. If they are thinking about us, then we need some work to do on our presentation. But where we have to watch out the most is after the ministry event. How many times do we hear preachers boasting about how many conversions or proclamations of faith in their services or crusades or events? They may give lip service to God by saying, “Look at how many people God brought to the Lord this weekend.” However, what is the motive? What is the fruit of that statement? What it is used for? Is it truly giving praise and glory to God, or is it rather to boast about what that preacher did?

If we truly love someone, if we truly love God, we will not speak or act to draw attention to ourselves. We will not need to tell others what we have done or the good deeds we are doing. Love is not about you. That said, love also does not boast about others, giving them undue attention. It does build up and it does edify others, but it has no need to brag about others in pride. Often such boasting is a subtle way to boast about self because then the other person would “owe you a favor.” Instead, boast about Christ and Christ alone because he alone is worthy of the praise and the glory.

Next week, I’ll look at how love is not rude nor self-seeking.

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