Boasting
If we’re all being honest, every one of us boasts from time to time. You may have no idea you’re doing it, and often it’s just a slip of the tongue: ‘Why yes my coat is new, it’s Ralph Lauren...’ Or you may be one of those people who boasts every day, boasting makes you feel good and superior to others: “I’m going to buy another car, it might be frivolous but I can afford it!”... And you like that that feeling.
However, the Bible is very clear in warning us not to boast. That boasting is not good for us or those around us.
Why is it not good? Firstly, it does not align with the word of God. If God tells us not to do something, you can rest assured it’s because it’s not good for us emotionally or spiritually. When we boast we make ourselves sound better than every one else, which affects the way we perceive equality. We are never better than anyone else. God loves us all the same.
Secondly, when we boast we can stir up envy in others, which is also a sin in the eyes of God. Do we really want the people around us to suffer because of our own prideful actions? Envying never makes anyone feel good, and can make those suffering come to despise those doing the boasting. In Exodus 20:17 it says:
“You should not covet your neighbour’s house, you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbour’s servants, you shall not covet your neighbour’s donkey or ox or anything else that belongs to your neighbour”.
This command to not covet is repeated in the New Testament also. It says in Ephesians 5:5:
“For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person, or covetous man, who is an idolator, has an inheritance in the kingdom of God”.
Thirdly, boasting leads to pride and pride can lead to destruction. When we come to think of ourselves as richer, smarter, handsomer and more successful than others we are moving further and further away from the humble people God has called us to be, and that can be a dangerous thing. Pride leads us along it’s deadly path towards idolatry, and idolising other things, be they money, success, power etc above God. And this, ultimately leads to death.
When we are proud and boastful, and do not repent, we cannot be saved by God, because pride and boastfulness do not have a place in the kingdom of heaven. These ‘vices’ we see and hear everyday are worrisome, not just because we as believers know that they lead to destruction, but because so many people using them do not.
In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment”.
To put it simply, if we claim to be fierce believers in God and disciples of Jesus we cannot put anything before our love for God. Nothing.
So when our yearning to boast about our lives to others comes upon us, let’s remember what it says in 1 Corinthians 1:31:
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord”.
The only time God allows us to indulge in boastfulness, is when we tell others about him, when we share with them our testimonies of how mighty God is and encourage them to invest in him and the miraculous ways he can transform their lives.
However, the Bible is very clear in warning us not to boast. That boasting is not good for us or those around us.
Why is it not good? Firstly, it does not align with the word of God. If God tells us not to do something, you can rest assured it’s because it’s not good for us emotionally or spiritually. When we boast we make ourselves sound better than every one else, which affects the way we perceive equality. We are never better than anyone else. God loves us all the same.
Secondly, when we boast we can stir up envy in others, which is also a sin in the eyes of God. Do we really want the people around us to suffer because of our own prideful actions? Envying never makes anyone feel good, and can make those suffering come to despise those doing the boasting. In Exodus 20:17 it says:
“You should not covet your neighbour’s house, you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbour’s servants, you shall not covet your neighbour’s donkey or ox or anything else that belongs to your neighbour”.
This command to not covet is repeated in the New Testament also. It says in Ephesians 5:5:
“For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person, or covetous man, who is an idolator, has an inheritance in the kingdom of God”.
Thirdly, boasting leads to pride and pride can lead to destruction. When we come to think of ourselves as richer, smarter, handsomer and more successful than others we are moving further and further away from the humble people God has called us to be, and that can be a dangerous thing. Pride leads us along it’s deadly path towards idolatry, and idolising other things, be they money, success, power etc above God. And this, ultimately leads to death.
When we are proud and boastful, and do not repent, we cannot be saved by God, because pride and boastfulness do not have a place in the kingdom of heaven. These ‘vices’ we see and hear everyday are worrisome, not just because we as believers know that they lead to destruction, but because so many people using them do not.
In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment”.
To put it simply, if we claim to be fierce believers in God and disciples of Jesus we cannot put anything before our love for God. Nothing.
So when our yearning to boast about our lives to others comes upon us, let’s remember what it says in 1 Corinthians 1:31:
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord”.
The only time God allows us to indulge in boastfulness, is when we tell others about him, when we share with them our testimonies of how mighty God is and encourage them to invest in him and the miraculous ways he can transform their lives.
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