"Good morning! I pray your night was a restful one, and you're ready for the brand new day. Whatever failings may have been part of yesterday, I hope you learned from them, for that is what wise people do. But for many though, this isn't generally what they practice. Therefore, today I want to talk about boasting.
Did you know that there are many people in this world who boast profusely in how faithful and how good they are in everything? They do this to impress others of their faithfulness to family, their spouse, their work, their church, their giving, and even some dare to say that they are 100% faithful to God?
Yet the Bible doesn't seem to agree with that. In fact, the Bible says just the opposite: Everyone talks about how loyal and faithful he is, but just try to find someone who really is! (Proverbs 20:6 GNB) It appears that men are generally liars based on this passage, and I believe this is probably the case in many instances.
Have you ever listened to just how much people boast in themselves throughout any given day? Have you ever stopped to listen to yourself? It might surprise you to learn how much all of us do this. It seems no one can except who they are in many areas of their life, because of this everyone is attempting to make themselves appear larger in the eyes of others.
We have all watched the sports figures bragging about what their going to do to their opponent. Where this may be for entertainment purposes and for fun, the sad thing is people really act as such in real life. Even if you are really good at something, bragging about it just cheapens it in the long run, and this will disgust others from admiring the skill you may really have. Just do what you do well and leave the talk to others. When you do this, you will be admired for your incredible skill and your humility will be the most mysterious part of it all, because skill with humility is rare to find.
Boasting therefore is often used to cover up what we deem in ourselves as being small, or insignificant, or too plain, or a weakness we don't want others to see. Don't fall for this, for if you do, you are running the risk of telling someone a lie through your boastings of who you want them to think you are or what you can do; the thing is, when you have to produce what you brag about and can't live up to it, your embarrassment of not being able to get it done, may be more than you can bear. You know what? Truth is, I like you being YOU without all the boasting!" ~Dad~
But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:12 NLT) |
