What does it mean that love is not proud (1 Corinthians 13:4)?

Answer

First Corinthians 13 offers significant insight into the Christian perspective on love. The passage describes love as “not proud” (verse 4).

The term translated as “proud” provides valuable insight. It originates from a Greek word that means to “puff up” or “blow up.” The expression “having a big head” conveys a similar concept. Being puffed up implies having an inflated opinion of oneself. However, pride cannot coexist with divine love. Christian love is not characterized by pride or self-centeredness.

Jesus Christ exemplifies selfless love perfectly. Philippians 2:6-8 reveals that Jesus, despite being “in very nature God,” did not seek to grasp equality with God. Instead, He humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. He further humbled Himself by obediently facing death, even death on a cross. Jesus did not focus on Himself but served others with humility, ultimately sacrificing His life for our salvation. As John 15:13 states, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

In contrast to the humility of love, the Corinthian believers were sometimes characterized by their prideful conduct. They engaged in disputes over which apostle to follow (chapters 1-3), spoke ill of Paul (chapter 4), boasted about tolerating sinful behavior (chapter 5), sued fellow believers (chapter 6), dishonored God during the Lord’s Supper (chapter 11), and argued about the importance of spiritual gifts (chapter 12). Paul’s reminder that “love is not proud” served as a necessary correction to their self-centered attitudes.

Pride is a sin. John emphasized thatThe pride of life “is not from the Father but is from the world” «For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. », (1 John 2:16). The Proverbs summarize God’s attitude regarding pride: “Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate” «The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the froward mouth, do I hate. », (Proverbs 8:13), and, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” «Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall. », (Proverbs 16:18).

William Penn, the founder of the Colony of Pennsylvania, wrote, “A proud man then is a kind of glutton upon himself; for he is never satisfied with loving and admiring himself; whilst nothing else, with him, is worthy either of love or care” (from No Cross, No Crown, chapter XII). This is exactly why love and pride are anathema to each other. In pride, we become the objects of our own love; in humility, we learn to love others. A person with godly love is not concerned with benefiting himself. The only thing love sees is the need.

When the Good Samaritan stopped to help the man in need on the Jericho road, he didn’t concern himself with how “Jews do not associate with Samaritans” «Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. », (John 4:9). The Good Samaritan did not care how it looked to others. He was there to help Luke 10:25-37.

Explore the parable of the Good Samaritan in (Luke 10:30-37). The humble attention to another person’s needs is the example Jesus provided of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.