“I’m Not Bragging”
When someone says, “Now, I’m not bragging,” we can usually expect him to immediately start bragging! It’s funny if you think about it, but all humor aside, I want to write a few words flowing from Scripture about bragging that I hope and pray will bless us.
Jeremiah wrote, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me…’” (Jer 9:23-24 ESV). It is folly to boast about my (supposed) wisdom, because, “In the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1Cor 1:20-21 ESV). Man’s wisdom doesn’t stack up! It is folly to boast about strength, because, “’All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever’” (1Pet 1:24-25 ESV). Strength fails. It is foolishness to boast about your wealth, “For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15 ESV). Wealth can be spent, lost or stolen. If you’re going to bragg about something, bragg about something truly great, ideally something that misfortune and death cannot take from you!
Paul is a fine example! He wrote, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish” (Phil 3:4-8 ESV). In another place: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14 ESV).
As an apostle, Paul was imitating Christ, and his example is authoritative (1Cor 11:1). Let’s be honest, the greatest among us have nothing we didn’t receive from someone else. We don’t have anything to boast about in this flesh! Salvation in Christ is the only thing we can have that death and misfortune can’t touch. So, to sum this up, I’m not bragging, but I know Jesus! Wait, maybe I am bragging now.
—JLP
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