Puffer Fish

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is not puffed up

Perhaps I skipped over this too quickly yesterday as linked arrogance with bragging. As I prepared for today I looked over verse 4 to see if perhaps I might have missed something and this is one aspect I had overlooked.

1 Corinthians 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

A puffer fish will make himself look bigger than he actually is for defensive purposes. It is not an offensive position, it is defensive.

I have found myself at times being defensive with what I know. I was protecting myself, not the Word of God. The Word of God stands on its own and so does God’s perfect love. I should never feel like I need to be defensive with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

From the outside, a worldly viewpoint, non-Christians will think; “Who does he think he is?” The love of God is meant to attract the lost, not put them off. The main reason for His indwelling love is to reach the lost. Being defensive with people who do not know you does not draw them to God.

This also makes me wonder if when I see others who “puff themselves up” are they being defensive? If it is a brother or sister in Christ, I can confess my condition as perhaps an opportunity to draw them into a meaningful conversation. I’ve had to learn that not all people are introspective. I was like that when I was at my worst. Perhaps I knew in my heart I was wrong and just didn’t want to look inward, knowing what I would find.

Confessing our weaknesses will only make us (the church) stronger.

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