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1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (4c)
In 1 Corinthians 13:4c the Apostle Paul teaches (NKJV), “love does not parade itself”. But what exactly is God’s Holy Spirit working through the teaching of Paul mean by “love does not parade itself”? For love to parade itself would be contradicting to the true meaning of love, for “to parade” is to bring attention to oneself as to say “look at me.” This is self-centered, arrogant, and prideful. These things are reflective of the evil one and directly related to the reason in which he found himself cast out of heaven. We learn about the fall of Lucifer (Satan, the devil, the evil one) in Isaiah 14:12-21. The devil’s fall was because of his own pride, arrogance, and self-centered attitude as he made an attempt to “parade himself” in the presence of God. Isaiah 14:12-15 declares,
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the
congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will be like the Most High.’
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
This is an example of what love is not.
For love to parade itself would be lust in disguise as is Satan himself trying to disguise himself as God. It is the age-old trickery of the devil trying to pull us away from our relationships with our Savior Jesus. Satan puts a fake love, which is nothing more than lust, in our hearts for the things of this world which are not the things in which God desires us to seek. The things of this world are temporary and will perish just as our physical bodies will perish. But true love – the love of God – lasts for eternity. And because God loves us so much, He allows us who put our faith in Him through Christ Jesus to experience His love while we are still yet in our physical bodies, as a prelude to what is to come. As the Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” Don’t let the devil pull you away from the relationship that God desires to have with you any longer. Put your faith in Jesus today and begin experiencing the love of God in your life that will last for all eternity!
Dear LORD,
Please help us to see through the trickery of the devil. Please help us to understand that parading ourselves is reflective of the same things in which the devil parades himself. Please help us to cling to Your true love for us that will last for eternity and help us overcome the trickery of the devil as we stand firmly in Christ, our Savior and the Savior of the world! In Jesus name I pray, amen.