Boast Only About the Lord

As the Scriptures say, "If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord." When people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them (2 Corinthians 10:17, 18 NLT).

A lot of us boast, at least on a subconscious level. We may think, after all, that no one will notice the good things we do if we don't tell them all about it. Because of that, we might go out of our way to let people know about the great thing we did, in subtle or perhaps not-so-subtle ways. At times we may even cloak our boasting in ways that sound spiritual in order to avoid the appearance of pride.

Boasting is okay, as long as we're boasting about the Lord. But what exactly does it mean to boast about the Lord? We've all heard people who "give all the glory to God" when they get up to give a testimony, and of course all glory should be given to God. But sometimes even when people say, "It was only because of God," or, "I couldn't do it without the Lord's help," they are still trying to bring attention to the fact that they did something great.

Because of that, in addition to using words such as "God did this," we should always check our motives. If we are thinking about telling someone else something great that happened, we should pray about it first, asking God to confirm whether or not we should share, and then ask Him to help us share in such a way that all the glory goes to Him, rather than us.

We should also avoid opportunities to commend ourselves. If we are quietly faithful to do what God has called us to do with excellence and pure motives, in time, God will commend us. This may happen publicly, or perhaps just within our own hearts. We may not even hear the words of commendation until we pass from this life to the next, but we will hear them.

Thought: Do you have a tendency to boast? When you say, "I give God all the glory," do you really mean it, or are you really hoping to grab at least a little glory for yourself? Grapple with this subject either in prayer or in your journal. As you do so, ask God to bring to your mind times when you've boasted in yourself rather than in Him, and then spend some time in repentance, as needed.