Love Is Not Being A Know-It-All

Laurel Falls. TN

^“Love… is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4 NKJV). We are looking at characteristics of love and we know God is love. God is not puffed up.

The word means to inflate or blow up as in pride. One translation says “Doesn’t have a swelled head.” Paul is the only one who uses this word. It has the idea of having an inflated ego or thinking more highly of oneself than a person ought.

“Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies” (1 Corinthians 8:1). A person may know-it-all but that does him no good if it manifests as pride. ^“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

If you want to see God at work, watch Jesus. Jesus never made Himself to be a know-it-all. He never made Himself out to be better than anyone else even though He was.

A character on a TV show once said, “It is okay to be smarter than everyone else, but you don’t have to tell everyone you are.”

Good pride enjoys the success of your kids and your fellow believers. But love is not puffed up.