Love is patient and kind; love does
not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own
way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but
rejoices with the truth. Love bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7
We are
working our way through this passage…now we come to this description of love –
Love is not arrogant or
rude.
Some
translations say “it is not arrogant and does not act unbecomingly”. I like that explanation.
First, let’s
address the arrogance. Simply put, LOVE
esteems others as more important than ourselves. When we love, we seek to lift others up,
prioritize what is best for others, and not assume that our position/opinion/view
is the right one. Now, just a word of caution
– I do not think that Scripture is advocating a miserable existence where we
denigrate ourselves and consider our lives to be worthless. That is actually just another expression of
arrogance! Because arrogance is self-consumption and deflation of others. Love is, instead, self-forgetfulness and the valuing of others. Love is not arrogant because love does not
focus on self.
That’s why the “love is not rude” admonition
follows – rudeness is a lack of consideration of others. Plain and simple. From civility of manners to common courtesies to respectful public behavior (including
social media…), love is not rude. It
does not treat others in an impolite, thoughtless or mean way. It
just does not.
I wonder how
many relationships could be repaired if we just would choose to reject arrogance
and rudeness. And I wonder how many
relationships are fractured because we didn’t…
I believe
that Christians should place a high value on treating others with respect and
courtesy. We need to train our children to do so…and we need to model it
ourselves. Ask God to show you if there
is a relationship or a situation where you have displayed arrogance or rudeness. Then repent and be reconciled.
That’s what
Love does.