Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Does Pride Look Like? | Redefining Love (1 Cor. 13)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to drive across town. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we are working through 1st Corinthians 13, which is Paul's definition of love. If I were to talk to people who know you pretty well, people who spend a lot of time with you, maybe a spouse or a friend or a coworker, a sibling, it doesn't really matter. But people who know you well and watch you and observe you in life, and I ask them to describe you. maybe start listing out words that describe your behavior, how you think, how you process and do life. How long would it take them to get to the word servant?

Starting point is 00:00:44 How long would it take them to say, this person really meets other people's needs instead of focusing only on their needs? This person puts other people's interests above their own. It's kind of convicting, isn't it? Because I think if people were describing me, people who know me well, where we're listing out words that describe me in my life, I'm not sure they would ever get to the word, servant. And yet, being a servant is at the heart of what it means to love people. We've been going through this chapter, 1 Corinthians 13,

Starting point is 00:01:17 phrase by phrase, looking at Paul's description of love. We're seeing that love is very active. And today we come to this phrase that love is not proud. What does it mean to be proud? And there's so many different ways that pride can be manifested in our life. But prideful people think highly of themselves. And therefore, proud people are not servants. No, proud people think their time is too valuable.

Starting point is 00:01:50 You know, they tend to think that their time is more valuable than other people's time. And so they'll let other people do the serving. Or proud people think that they are above, certain tasks. Maybe they've risen to a level in their job, or they've risen to a level of authority, or they've reached a certain age where they think certain tasks are beneath them, and so they'll let other people do those tasks. Or proud people think that their agenda is more important than other people's, and so they'll let other people serve so that they can do the more important things in life. But love is not proud. No, no, no, no. Love serves.

Starting point is 00:02:30 We've seen as we've gone through 1 Corinthians 13 that Jesus is the perfect picture of love. That instead of love, you can just put Jesus's name into this chapter. So we can say things like Jesus is patient and Jesus's kind. And you can also say this, Jesus is not proud. No, Jesus was always known as a servant. In Luke 2227, Jesus says about a man. himself, I am among you as the one who serves. That means that if Jesus lived in your house, he would be the one taking out the trash. He would be the one picking up after other people.

Starting point is 00:03:13 He would be the one doing laundry. He would be the one doing the dishes. If Jesus went to our church, he'd be the one cleaning the coffee pots. He'd be the one out on the parking team on hot days or rainy days or cold days, he would be the one changing diapers. Jesus would be the one mowing the grass. If Jesus were in your office, he would be the one taking on the project that no one else wanted to do. He'd be the one saying, I'll take the worst office. He'd be the one staying late, even if it was inconvenient.

Starting point is 00:03:49 You see, Jesus was always a servant. He always took the low road. If Jesus were your roommate, he'd be peop. picking up after you without ever complaining about it. There's a story in the Gospel of John that directly connects love with servanthood in Jesus' life. It's found in John chapter 13, and it's at the last supper. John chapter 13 verse 1 says this. It was just before the Passover festival.

Starting point is 00:04:21 Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Or another translation says he showed them the full extent of his love. Now we know that the full extent of Jesus' love was perfectly seen on the cross when he went to die for our sins. And yet in the immediate context, John goes on to tell a story that happened at the Last Supper. See, in the immediate context, what he says is this, Jesus showed him the full extent of his love by washing the feet of his disciples.

Starting point is 00:05:04 You have to understand, a master in that culture was, what was a place of privilege? Not unlike our own culture. So in that day, a master would sit at a meal, he would recline. He would be decorated out in royal robes. But we don't see Jesus. Jesus reclining here. No, we see Jesus standing up. We don't see Jesus in a robe. We see him taking

Starting point is 00:05:29 off his robe, taking off his robe, grabbing a basin of water and a towel, and doing the lolliest thing that one could do in that culture. He washes other people's feet. Now, you and I might think that feet are dirty or smelly or gross, and I'm sure that was true in the first century, especially since they walked on dirt roads and always wore sandals. Their feet, you can count on it, were always nasty. But there's more happening in this story than just saying that Jesus cleaned gross feet. You see, the servant who was assigned to wash the feet was the lowest servant. That was the job that nobody else wanted. So Jesus didn't just take the gross roll. No, no, he took the humble role. Jesus did it for his followers.

Starting point is 00:06:24 Not for people greater than him, not even for his peers. No, Jesus washed the feet of his followers, of his students. That was absolutely unheard of. But that's not the most shocking thing. No, the most shocking thing is that Jesus washed Judas' feet. Jesus washed the feet of the one who was going to betray him. See, Jesus served the one who rejected him. So let's put this in modern terms.

Starting point is 00:06:54 Jesus didn't just wash dishes for those who were in his family, those he loved, those who would help him out. No, he washed the dishes of the one who would sell him out. Jesus didn't just take out the trash for the people at the office that he liked, but the ones who gossiped about him and slandered him behind his back. Jesus' love was demonstrated in his servanthood. He put others' needs and interests above his own. that's typical of a servant a servant doesn't say what do i need to do so that my night will go like i want it to a servant asks how can i help others have a great night i want to be a servant like that

Starting point is 00:07:37 but reality is that i'm not there i know i should pray about it more but is there something else i can do? What if you and I started acting like a servant? I wonder if our heart might catch up. I wonder if we began to take small steps that a servant would take, that we might begin to experience the joy that Jesus had when he went to the cross for us, so that we might then eventually begin to experience the joy Jesus had when he served us. Who's someone that you can serve today? Don't ask whether they deserve it. Don't ask whether they'll thank you for it or appreciate it. Maybe you shouldn't even ask if they'll know you did it.

Starting point is 00:08:26 But I wonder who's someone that you could do something kind for to sacrifice your agenda and your time so that you could serve him or her in your life. That's the little road. That's Jesus' road. It's also the road of joy. their road of life. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content,

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Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Does Pride Look Like? | Redefining Love (1 Cor. 13)

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