Don’t Inflate Yourself | 1 Corinthians 4:6-7

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Our text today is 1 Corinthians 4:6-7.

Pride rarely shows up overnight. It inflates slowly—one comparison at a time.

The Corinthians were comparing leaders, comparing gifts, comparing wins, and comparing influence. Every comparison pumped a little more air into the ego.

So Paul says:

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? — 1 Corinthians 4:6–7

There it is: “puffed up.” Inflated. Air-filled. Hollow confidence built on comparing yourself to someone else.

Comparison is spiritual bloat. It makes you look bigger, but it always makes you weaker.

Paul doesn’t just call it pride—he shows what fuels it:

• You compare your strengths to someone else’s weakness.
• You compare your wins to someone else’s struggles.
• You compare your gifting to someone else’s calling.
• And suddenly, you’re “puffed up in favor of one against another.”

Comparison always produces two outcomes: inflation or deflation. Neither leads to humility.

So Paul places a pin in the ego with one question: “What do you have that you did not receive?”

It’s one of the most humbling sentences in the chapter.

• Your gifts? Received.
• Your opportunities? Received.
• Your abilities? Received.
• Your influence? Received.
• Your successes? Received.

When you realize everything is a gift, boasting feels ridiculous. You didn’t earn the breath you're breathing. You received it.

When you remember everything comes from God, something beautiful happens:

• The bloating stops.
• The ego shrinks.
• The comparisons fade.
• Gratitude rises.

Because you can’t be “puffed up” when you know you’re living on received grace. Therefore, puffed-up faith pops under pressure.

So stay grounded. Stay grateful. Stay aware that everything you have comes from a generous God—not a comparison chart.

DO THIS:

Identify one area where comparison has inflated or deflated you. Then replace comparison with gratitude by thanking God for what you’ve received.

ASK THIS:

1. Where am I most tempted to compare myself with others?
2. What gift from God have I been treating like something I earned?
3. How would gratitude—not comparison—change my posture today?

PRAY THIS:

Father, expose the places where I’ve inflated myself through comparison. Remind me that everything I have is received from You. Make me humble, grounded, and grateful. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

“Give Me Jesus”