Imitators of Love - Part 8: Love's Supervillain

REVIEW
 
So we are studying about the true nature of God based on one simple question—Would God give us a standard that He Himself is not first practicing Himself? In other words, would God tell us to treat our neighbors a certain way if He was not treating us the same? And the obvious answer to that is—No, of course He will not and does not. Therefore, a great way that I have found to learn about God’s loving nature is to look at how He commands us to love each other.
 
Now I have entitled this series of messages “Imitators of Love” because as we are told to imitate God as dear children, we can look at all of these other things God tells us to do as simply copying what He does.  
 
So, a couple of weeks ago, we started looking at a great section of Scriptures that teaches us about the characteristics of love – the great love chapter, First Corinthians chapter 13. We are doing this with the understanding that since God is love, all of these things the apostle Paul teaches us that love does, describe to us God’s characteristics.
 
First Corinthians 13:4-8 teaches us how “love suffers long and is kind. (how) love does not envy; (how) love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (how it) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (how it) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (yes, how love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
 
So we have been going through this list of the characteristics of love each week and what we have learned so far is …

• God (i.e., Love) suffers long – We saw how the apostle Paul starts off with the fruit of the Spirit, longsuffering, and how this is one of the chief characteristics of love. So love is characterized by how patient it is with people—which should not be strange to us when we understand the root of our impatience with others, which is usually just us being self-centered. In other words, we don’t put up with a lot in others because our flesh is tired of dealing with it. So once it becomes something we aren’t wanting to deal with anymore, our flesh starts showing out. But what we learned was that this is not just talking about our longsuffering; this is divine longsuffering that we are talking about—meaning, it’s God’s ability to suffer long and be patient, which I can assure you is much “longer” than our own ability to suffer long. So we saw how the Scriptures teach us that God is longsuffering—from how He waited in the days of Noah when He judged the world by water to how He is waiting in this hour when He will judge the world by fire. The reason why it seems to be so long before the Lord brings His judgment is not because He drags His feet, but because He suffers long. God’s longsuffering is always on full display to us! God suffers long!
• God (i.e., Love) is kind – Then we saw how love is not just patient; it’s also kind while doing it. And we learned how kindness (like longsuffering) is also a fruit of the Spirit, meaning that it is also fruit of God’s nature. Yes, all nine of these fruit of the Spirit are who our God is. And like we say God is good, we can also say that God is kind. Yes, there are a myriad of Scriptures that show us how God is kind - how everything from the giving of Jesus to so many other things He gives us throughout our life. Church, I’ll tell you—there is no one quite as kind as our one of a “kind” God. And He wants us to consider this kindness aspect of Him—for far too many of us have only considered the severe side of Him. But the truth is that there is a kind, gentle, and good side of God that He wants to reveal to us! God is kind!
• God (i.e., Love) does not envy – Then we started a section here where Paul begins teaching what love is not. And he begins by saying that love does not envy. We learned that envy is much more subtle than most think, and because it is emphasized so much in the Scriptures, that proves to us that it is more of a problem than most would like to admit. So we saw how a lot of situations such as Jesus being handed over to Pilate by the religious leaders was motivated by envy and also how Joseph was betrayed by his brothers because of envy (interesting that those two things parallel each other). But the fact is, envy—which is desire to possess something that someone else has—can be something that we all struggle with, and it also can be the motivation behind the things we think and do. But at the same time, we learned that God does not desire to deprive someone else of something they have. Rather, He desires to give—because there is no bigger giver than our God. However, we ended on more of a sober note last week—that while God certainly does not envy, He is a jealous God. This means that like a spouse who loves his or her mate, God desires to have all of His bride’s heart and possess us totally for Himself. No, not in a selfish way like mankind tends to do it, but in a healthy, loving way. Church, in His great love for us, God desires us—so much so, that He is unwilling to share His Bride with anything or anyone else.

 
LOVE DOESN’T BOAST OF ITSELF
 
Today, I want us to look at these next two things that the apostle Paul said that love is not. The second half of First Corinthians 13:4 says, “love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.”
 
Now this is certainly true of our God, isn’t it? He does everything but “parade Himself” before His creation, nor is He “puffed up.” In fact, He is the exact opposite. He purposefully does not put Himself on display when by all accounts, if anyone was worthy of doing so, it would be Him. But no, God has not made it a practice of His to reveal His glory to the world. In fact, very few have ever gotten a glimpse of just how beautiful He is.
 
But oh, how the majority of His creation have done the exact opposite. Yes, most people live their entire lives “parading” themselves—that is, promoting themselves and proudly displaying all their talents, knowledge, beauty, etc. for others to see.
 
Now the phrase “parade itself” comes from the Greek word that means to brag or boast of oneself, and Paul was saying here that this is not love. No, love for others doesn’t brag about itself. Sure, love for itself will brag about itself, but the truth we need to understand today is that we will brag about whoever we love.
 
I mean, it’s not hard to see this, is it? We’ve all seen mothers brag on their sons, fathers boast of their daughters, grandparents glory in their grandkids, etc. And why is this? It’s because they love their kids & grandkids. Yes, they have a special place in their hearts, so they brag, boast, and glory in their accomplishments and so forth.
 
But again, if we love ourselves, guess who we will brag on and boast about? Ourselves! And we’ve all seen that as well, haven’t we?
 
You see, one of the core characteristics of pride—which is anti-love—is how it loves to talk about itself. It loves to brag about what it’s seen, who & what it knows, where it’s been and what it’s done, etc. It’s not hard to spot it in a conversation either. And we’ve all got a little bit of it in us—some more than others 😊.
 
Now the reason why pride so easily manifests in our words is because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So if our heart is full of ourselves, what do you think the main topic of conversation will be? Ourselves! Yes, there will be a lot of personal pronouns in those conversations—a lot of “I’s, me’s, my’s, etc.” However, if our hearts are full of others, we will brag about them. Yes, we will celebrate and “parade” them from our hearts when love is in our hearts towards them.  
 
So this is what love does. It doesn’t “parade” itself. It honors others. Yes, love seeks to celebrate others and not itself.
 
LOVE ISN’T FULL OF ITSELF
 
Now the next description of what love is, is very similar to love not “parading itself.” Paul says that love also is not “puffed up.” This phrase literally describes being “inflated, blown up, or caused to swell up.” Of course, Paul is talking about being full of pride here.
 
But let’s consider the terminology for a moment—if pride is being “inflated or blown up,” what do you suppose this person is inflated with? Themselves! Yes, they are full of themselves (as we like to say it). 
 
Now there is nothing much more repulsive than a person who is full of themselves, is there? Of course, it will make a person completely selfish & self-centered, but it does more than just that. It will cause a person to be wise in their own opinion, to think they know more than everyone else, to trust in their own abilities, to take matters into their own hands, etc. I could go on and on. But what I want you to understand today is that someone who is “puffed up” is not just arrogant and haughty; they can also be self-sufficient and self-reliant.
 
The bottom line is that this pride can take on many faces and it’s not just the traditional view of pride that’s glaringly obvious. In fact, I could have a lot of pride and appear to others like I’m very humble. How? By not necessarily bragging on myself or coming across as being better than others, but by being a person who doesn’t like to lose control. 
 
In fact, out of the seven times that this word is used in the New Testament, six of them are found in this epistle (i.e., First Corinthians). Therefore, the church of Corinth was a body of believers that apparently had a pretty big problem with this ugly stuff called pride.
 
In one of these verses, Paul tells us that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (See First Corinthians 8:1), and what he was saying here was how knowing facts and even the truth can actually have the tendency to inflate those who know such things with pride. But what is the lesson here? It is that while knowledge tends to puff up, love builds up. In other words, if you and I are walking in love, we will seek to edify others and not tear them down because we know something they don’t.
 
So as Paul was saying here in First Corinthians 13:4, if I am puffed up, I won’t be building others up in love. So again, while love is not puffed up, love does build up.
 
The terminology “edifies” or “builds up” describes a house or building that is being “built up”—thus the restoration of a building, the rebuilding or repair of a home, etc. This is what love does with others! When it sees a person who is broken or even demolished, love seeks to build them back up, restoring and rebuilding their lives.  
 
Now pride is not generally going to be so concerned with helping build someone else’s house, is it? But it most certainly will exert all kinds of care and concern with building its own, right? And I am not just talking about the building of houses. I’m speaking metaphorically about building our own kingdoms, things that directly affect us. So this could be our own families, businesses, ministries, etc. Church, it’s easy for us to have our affections set on our own stuff to where that’s what we seek, what we think about, what’s on our heart, etc.
 
But the love God has called us to walk in will set its affections on other’s kingdoms and seek first their welfare even above our own at times. Yes, love will have its heart full of others, which will result in it treasuring the things which concern them and boasting in their victories and successes. I mean, it’s what the Lord has done for us, right?
 
THE HUMBLE GOD
 
You see, our main point today is that God is certainly the definition of humility—not parading Himself and bragging on Himself, and also not being full of Himself. And again, if anyone ever had a right to do this, it would be Him. But because of His great love for us, He has chosen to parade us, to brag on us, and have His heart full of us. That’s what love does, saints!
 
I know some of us might have a hard time accepting the fact that God is the epitome of humility, being the exalted, great God that He is, but even in His sovereignty, He possesses the utmost humility.
 
Now there is no better way to see the humble side of God than in the Lord Jesus. As we know, He only did what He saw the Father doing and only said what He heard from His Father. Therefore, Jesus was the image of the invisible God and the express image of His person. So whatever we see in Him is who our God is.
 
Well, the Scriptures reveal to us how the life & ministry of Jesus was all about humility. No, He never paraded Himself—bragging about who He was. He wasn’t puffed up in pride being full of Himself. No, as Jesus said in Matthew 11:29— “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart …”
 
So even though Jesus was God, He came in a “gentle and lowly in heart” manner. This is what He wanted us to learn about Him. So let’s talk a little bit about this humble side of God which is motivated by selfless love.
 
 THE MIND OF CHRIST
 
Yes, we are told in Ephesians 5:2 that Jesus not only served & ministered, but that He actually gave Himself! Let’s look at it …
 
After the apostle Paul gives the exhortation to be imitators of God as dear children, he went on to say that we can do this by “walk(ing) in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” So what Paul is saying here is the way in which we imitate our Heavenly Father is by walking in love with one another the way Christ has loved us. And how He did this was by giving Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God! Amen!
 
So let’s talk a little bit today about how Christ did this: What was the process by which He “gave Himself” for us? Now I believe this action of love is actually perfectly described to us in Philippians chapter 2. So let’s go over to Philippians the 2nd chapter and look at how Paul describes the mentality and attitude of Jesus Christ …
 
Paul begins in Philippians 2:3 to give some instructions to this church. He says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” Now obviously we are talking here about pride—for “selfish ambition and conceit” are descriptors of this enemy of love.
 
Regarding being conceited, this basically means “having an excessively high opinion of oneself” (Webster’s). In Romans 12:3 we are told not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. God wants us to think highly of ourselves. He wants us to realize that we are valuable to him and that we have an important purpose. He just doesn’t want us to think more highly of ourselves than we should. That is, thinking that our gifts and talents are of ourselves. God doesn’t mind us acknowledging our gifts. He just wants us to acknowledge the Giver of those gifts too.
 
Then Paul goes on to say things that are opposed to doing things through selfish ambition and conceit— “but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
 
You see, lowliness of mind is the opposite of being “high-minded.” It describes having a low estimation of one’s own worth and value. Not in the sense of who we are in Christ but in a sense of who we are in ourselves.
 
One of the definitions of pride is to be enveloped in smoke. This means that a prideful person cannot see reality. They are blinded by the smoke of self-deception. If we fly too high, then we can get our heads caught in the clouds and blind ourselves. I love how the Amplified Bible describes this phrase “lowliness of mind.” It describes it as “in the true spirit of humility.”
 
So it is “in lowliness of mind” that we are able to esteem others better than ourselves. We have to see ourselves as not being the most important person in the world before we will be able to truly esteem others better than ourselves. To “esteem” someone means to honor them. In Romans 12:10 we see this definition of honor… It says, “in honor giving preference to one another.” When you allow someone “to lead the way” (def. “preference”) you are honoring them. Ways we can honor others is to:

1. Let someone else go in line in front of you somewhere.
2. Allow someone to share what is on their heart before you do.
3. Let someone else choose the restaurant that y’all will eat at.

 
These are just some of the ways that we can esteem others better than ourselves. And living a lifestyle of honoring others like this will result in God honoring us because “the last shall be first!”
 
Now I want us to skip down to verse 5: Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
 
Now Paul had just told us in verses 2-4 to walk in one accord with our brothers and sisters and to esteem other’s interests above our own. Now he gives us the perfect example of someone who fulfilled this to the uttermost—Christ Jesus!
 
Jesus strived to live in unity with God’s people - not at the cost of the truth but with the effort to reveal the truth to them. Jesus had no selfish ambition nor was He conceited. He truly esteemed others better than Himself. Jesus looked out for the interests of others above His own. He was the best example of humility that there ever was and ever will be!
 
The word “mind” here comes from the Greek word phroneo which means to think, to be mindful of, to have regard for, or to have a certain attitude. So Paul is telling us here to have the same attitude as Jesus. He wants us to think like He thought—to have His perspective on things.
 
Saints, this mindset that Jesus had has to be “in” us. It has to be an attitude that has become a part of us—that is, placed in our heart. It is only when this kind of thinking becomes a part of us that it will truly change the way we live. “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) Our actions are a product of the way we think. Where the mind goes the man will follow!
 
So what was Jesus’ mindset, attitude and way of thinking? We need to find this out because this is how we are exhorted to think as well!
 
Beginning in verse 6, the apostle Paul goes on to tell us the mentality of Christ. He says, “who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God…”
 
Now the word “form” describes the “nature or essence” of something or someone. This means that before Jesus came to the earth He had the complete nature of God—for He was, in essence, God Himself as a member of the Trinity.
 
Now regarding the phrase “robbery to be equal with God,” the word “robbery” is a poor translation because it gives off the wrong impression of what Paul was trying to say. With this incorrect translation it would seem to mean Paul was saying that Jesus did not consider it “stealing” to say He was equal with God. But the whole context of what Paul was teaching was humility and laying down our own rights for others. Paul was teaching us that we are to lay down our privileges as children of God for the benefit of others.
 
The word “robbery” comes from the Greek word harpagmos, which describes “a prize held onto tightly, a treasure to be retained at all costs, or something valuable that is too good to let go.”      This is the “mind of Christ” mentioned in the previous verse, friends! Jesus did not consider or regard what He had in heaven when He walked in the full nature of God something that He could not let go of. Jesus considered us more precious and worth being apprehended than His own status and nature as God Almighty! That is awesome, saints!
 
In short, He loved and valued us more than He loved and valued His position in heaven! And this is how we are to regard other people: more valuable than our own position, fame, and glory. Sure, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. Sure, we are the King’s kids. But if we usurp those positions above serving others then we are not having the mind of Christ!
 
You see, Christ’s attitude here was the exact opposite of that of Lucifer’s (see Isaiah 14:12-15). Lucifer had one of the most important positions in heaven. He was close to the throne of God, but he was not satisfied. He desired to be on the throne of God. He was not satisfied with being a creature. He desired to be the Creator.
 
One of the main differences between Jesus and Lucifer was that Lucifer said, “I will” and Jesus said, “Thy will.” Lucifer thought only of his own promotion to benefit himself and Jesus thought only of His demotion to benefit us. Christ’s humility in love is a direct contrast to Satan’s pride in his selfish ambition!
 
Then Paul goes on further to describe Christ Jesus’ mentality in verse 7 … He said, “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
By using the word “but”, Paul was saying that not only did Jesus not “consider” His position in heaven something that He had to retain at all costs, but He also acted on it by making Himself of no reputation.
 
We are told in First John 3:18 that we are to make sure we do not love in word or in tongue but in deed and in truth. James chapter 2 teaches us that faith without works is dead. We need to always judge our love walk to see if it is active. Jesus considered us of more value than His own position and then actively lowered Himself for us. Likewise, we need to not only see others as more valuable than ourselves, but we also need to willingly lower ourselves through selfless acts of love.
 
The words “made...of no reputation” come from the Greek word keno which means “to empty something.” This Greek word carries the idea in context that Jesus willingly emptied Himself of His divine privileges and glory that He had as being in the form of God. Saints, He willingly laid down all of His Godhead privileges! 
 
I do like how the word “reputation” is used here. A reputation is the general opinion of other people towards something or someone. Jesus had the greatest reputation while He was in heaven as God. All the hosts of heaven highly esteemed Him. But He chose to willingly forget about His reputation in heaven and come to the earth, where He became despised and rejected by His own creation. Jesus literally made Himself to have no reputation with man rather than having the best reputation in heaven. So many people worry about their reputation with men that they compromise what is right. In Christ Jesus we no longer have our own reputation. We died to ourselves on the day we received Him so we should no longer be concerned with what the world thinks of us.
 
Then Paul said that He “taking the form” … The word used for “form” here is the same Greek word translated “form” in verse 6. It means “nature or essence.” So after Jesus laid down His nature and privileges as God, He took up the nature and lack of privileges of a servant.
 
But what makes what Jesus did so powerful was that when He left behind all the glory and honor of heaven He came to the earth and took the least glorious and least honorable position attainable- a bondservant—for the word “bondservant” comes from the Greek word doulos and describes the lowest form of slave. Jesus said Himself, “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve” (Matthew 20:28). He went from being the Highest to being the lowest!       
 
Then in verse 8, the apostle Paul went on to say, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Notice that it says that Jesus “humbled Himself”… The word “humbled” means “to make low.” This is what Jesus did by becoming a bondservant (vs.7)—He made Himself low.
 
THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS
 
But perhaps no greater example can be given of how Jesus did all of this other than John chapter 13. So let’s take a look at it. Of course, this is the account of Jesus washing His disciple’s feet that most of us are familiar with, but I want us to notice a couple of important points from this story … 
 
John 13:1-17 reads: “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” (So we see here that the topic of Jesus’ love for His own is the subject at hand of this chapter) And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.’ Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’ Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.’ For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, ‘You are not all clean.’ So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
 
Now does this mean that we need to have a ceremonial foot washing service from time to time? Well, not necessarily. You see, foot washing was something that was done in those days because it was absolutely necessary. They wore sandals which exposed most of their feet and they didn’t travel on asphalt. Their feet were exposed everywhere they walked and were absolutely in need of these occasional foot washings.
 
Now I’m sure as nasty as some of our feet are, they cannot compare to these guys! Therefore, foot washing was not an ordinance that Jesus was seeking to establish; serving one another was the true lesson that He was illustrating to us.
 
But the point is this is a great example of how the Lord became a bondservant & humbled himself while He dwelt among us. And what was the result of this humility? Paul tells us in Philippians 2:9 – “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name …”
 
The word “therefore” shows us that it was through Jesus humbling Himself by becoming a servant to man and obedient to the Father, God also honored Him by highly exalting Him and giving Him the name which is above every name. So it was only when Jesus decided to lower Himself through humility to the Father and man that God elevated Him and elevated His name.
 
The major lesson we can learn from this is how God will in turn reward us for our humility, servanthood, and obedience. While we will never be rewarded the way that Jesus was with the loftiest position and title, we will be exalted to a certain degree on the Great judgment day if we truly lowered ourselves through selfless acts of humility and love while we were on the earth.
 
So this is the way Jesus thought, and it is the way Paul said that we, too, ought to think. It’s the way love thinks, and Jesus loved us enough to not only lay down His Godhead privileges and to not only empty Himself, but to humble Himself and become the greatest servant this world has ever seen. Amen!
 
PRIDE – THE SUPER VILLIAN
 
But our point today is how true humility is the exact opposite of this pride that is full of itself and parades itself. In fact, I consider pride to be the biggest “anti-love” vice. In other words, our pride is the supervillain of love.
 
Yes, church, just like the Joker is to Batman and Lex Luthor is to Superman, pride is the archrival of our inner man. And just like it seems as though those comic book villains cannot be killed, this archrival of our inner man isn’t going to die either. It must be defeated daily because it will always resurface. Pride is the biggest enemy of our 'inner me'!"
 
But your inward man is meek, gentle, and humble. It has the nature & characteristics of Christ resident within it. Therefore, that villain called pride is simply a part of our carnal nature, which we are all born with. So it is for that reason that I don’t like to look at pride as mine. The real me—the eternal part of me that we call the spirit man—doesn’t have a lick of pride in it. Therefore, I see pride as my arch-rival and not a part of the real me. 
 
Like Paul teaches us in Galatians chapter 5:16-18, we have a war going on inside of us—the spirit versus the flesh. And while God wants us yielding to His humility and love that resides in our inner man, the enemy of our soul wants us yielding to pride and self-centeredness.
 
It’s a continuous fight, but it’s one worth fighting for—for the rewards of humility and love cannot be understated. Let’s let these characteristics of love become our priority and receive the Lord’s help and grace in the process. Amen?