Loves Does Not Boast

From 1 Corinthians 13 we read: 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never ends.

Love does not boast.

I find this one a hard one... how does Love not boast. I boast about my boy, I boast about my hubby. I love them both dearly. So is that wrong to do?

Hmm... need to think on this some.

American heritage dictionary tells me what it means to boast:
VERB:
boast·ed, boast·ing, boasts
VERB:
intr.

To glorify oneself in speech; talk in a self-admiring way.

VERB:
tr.

1. To speak of with excessive pride.
2. To possess or own (a desirable feature): "[the] capital of a region in the southeast that boasts bountiful coal fields" (US Air).
3. To contain; have.

NOUN:

1. The act or an instance of bragging.
2. A source of pride.

okay... that puts a spin on what boasting is. When I am proud of my hubby or son, that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm bragging on them in an incorrect way. Like with everything there are fine lines to cross, but normal "I'm proud of what they do" type of things isn't a bad boasting type of thing. :)

Love does not boast.

Ergo loves doesn't say "LOOK WHAT I DID? AREN"T I GREAT?" Doesn't do that. What love does is put honour and glory where it needs to be.

Into Thy Word says this:

When God tells us that love does not boast, He means we are not to go around bragging about our accomplishments and abilities.

and

This word in the Greek is used to describe elections won by deceit and manipulations. It is like an elected official winning an election dishonestly and then bragging about it.

Love doesn't require our showing off. It doesn't. People can see what we do, even if they don't mention it. We don't have to say "See what "I" did". It just needs us to act and not call attention to ourselves.

So what does all this mean to me?
It means that when I do something I don't have to say "I DID IT". All I should do is go about living my life quietly and letting others see what they see. It means that I should not expect others to brag on what I am doing either as that's just a delayed type of boasting (I think). It is nice to have people say 'well done". Indeed it is. :) But it is far better for other people to say it rather than to crow about it myself, and that is indeed what I should be doing.

Love does not boast. It merely gets on with doing what needs doing.

What say you?

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.