EVERYTHING WE NEED: Who Can Boast the Most?

      I do not want to boast, but I was born into a Christian family. My dad was a preacher, and I rarely missed attending church. We had evening Bible readings and prayer. My two brothers were preachers, and my sister and I married preachers. I attended a Christian college, wrote Sunday School literature and served as the editor of a Christian magazine. I could continue, but I do not want anyone to think I am boasting.

      The Apostle Paul and I had some things in common. We both had several things about which to boast. However, boasting is prideful. He said: “...Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom. 12:3 NIV1984).

      I have no right to brag about something I had nothing to do with. God placed my siblings and me in a Christian home that would shape our lives in accordance with His will. Each of us is accountable for what we did or did not do. We were not granted salvation based on our background or achievements. Each of us must have a personal experience with Jesus to guarantee a place in Heaven. We are saved by grace through faith, “not of works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

      To boast is to talk with excessive pride and self-sufficiency about one’s achievements. It can also be called bragging, exaggerating or even showing off. We have all done it to one degree or another if we feel inadequate and our self-esteem needs a boost. Sometimes, we may speak out of arrogance. Such boasting is a sin.

      In James 4:13-16, James warned his listeners not to discuss their plans without seeking God’s will. He echoed the sentiment found in Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

      It is not wrong to plan and make wise decisions about our future. God expects us to be diligent in these matters. The problem arises when we fail to seek His will first. James also wrote: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:14-15).

      Not all boasting is wrong; there is a right way to do it. However, the proverb states, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips” (Prov. 27:2).

      “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord” (Jer. 9:23-24).

      In addressing the Corinthian Church, Paul reminded the believers they, by human standards, were not wise, not influential and few were of noble birth. However, because of God, he said, “…you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (I Cor. 1:30-31).

      Everything Paul said about himself was true. He was a Jew, a Pharisee, a religious zealot and an enemy of Christian believers. Yet he said, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14).