It is a call for people to admire me as much as I admire me. By teaching us not to brag, our parents taught us to not always seek praise for ourselves. Bragging can also show a misplaced value in something. When we boast about something, we do so because we think it is valuable and therefore worth boasting about.
As adults, we can be subtler in our boasting than children, but we, nonetheless, are proud in places where we should be humble. Despite the efforts of our parents, Paul tells us that there is, in fact, a condition under which we can brag or boast : we can boast if we boast in the Lord. Instead of drawing attention to ourselves, we draw attention to Christ. This boasting is a call for people to admire him as much as we admire him.
It shows how much we value Christ—he is our best quality. Boasting in the Lord is actually quite hard for us to do. It requires us to be in a state of humility in ourselves but pride in Christ—a tension unnatural to us.
But Paul has already addressed the issue. Paul knew that Christ was not what most people wanted to hear; in fact, he is not what we, believers, want to hear, often. We want to morph the Biblical Christ into one that is less poignant, less holy, less God. In other words, we have our own ideas about what Christ should be. But God does not call us to boast in a Christ of our own making; first, he calls us to humility by giving us a Christ that does not make sense to the world.
So appreciate your pointing out a fallacy of W. Ward's quote. Your third section a good one to remember when threatened reminds of how many of our old-sayings are rooted in Scriptural principles. How deceiving good deeds can be! If not done "as unto the Lord" we fall into any number of false notions about them. If good deeds could save people Jesus would not have had to face the cross. If good deeds take people's focus off Him and put it on us we utterly fail Him.
If any selfishness is part of our motivation they only serve to put us in a place of needing to repent. How I praise Him for the gift of repentance! Oh how sobering is Isaiah 5! Passages such as this are dismissed, called fairytales, but the people who do so do not know they are dealing with God. They are unwilling to search out the meaning of such passages, letting Him prove Himself to them. They sadly go their own way unwilling to believe that He says so far and no further.
Their own blindness keeps them from connecting the dots between societal ills and God's warnings. And the lessons from Jeremiah 9 really are breathtaking when considering the topic of boasting. People complain that "the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth" means what He says. He again warns people in the grip of the pride of life about continuing to follow our own hearts.
In general we see throughout history that God's Word has guided the behaviors of many people whether or not they trusted Him in Jesus according to His Word because His truths are right and good for us and for others. God's principles for living are sound, given to keep us safe, as we see in Psalm and Proverbs, as well as throughout His Word. Sadly, though, we are rebels to His love. We redefine it, and use His Word for our own purposes to try to prove our own points.
Without His help we take it out of context and refuse to prayerfully search the entire counsel of His Word. If we open our heart and mind to His wisdom we will indeed realize our need to journey through this world with a humble spirit. What is there to boast in except in the Christ? Everything without Him is mere fodder for fire! Also, you've surely reminded me of the contrasts between what people say in posts and posters on social media and what God says.
In the last days people will be boasters Entrenched in their thinking is doing it "my way", not knowing their enemy or the God that calls them to freedom in the Lord Jesus. Denise, I love your honesty. Thanks for sharing that "the reward is better" when people give the praise unprompted.
I appreciate your input. I would love to say I don't boast at all but I don't think I can honestly say that, however, I feel that if I keep my peace and others notice my artwork, the reward is better. I always feel better about the praise than when I pointed out how well I had done.
Thanks for the reminders. Good Scripture reference. Pastor Bill, I appreciate your encouragement. It's difficult finding new ways to write about old issues, but that forces me to think. So it seems that writing and reading are good mental exercises for us with the gray hairs.
Linda, I appreciate your input. I hope that people can differentiate when we're declaring our accomplishments to say thanks, and when we're just tooting our horn. I agree that the latter is inappropriate. Flourish, I once had a male friend who boasted frequently. He missed out on plenty I wanted to tell him, because as soon as I mentioned something say, a good presentation by someone he would butt in to boast about a presentation he did and I wouldn't get to finish my story. I learned to stop talking and listen.
I think that on occasions, he noticed that I lost interest and he ended the conversation. Like you suggested, not feeding into his boast helped to shut him down. I guess there will always be people like that. Thank God for the many who are not. Thanks, Antonio. I agree that it is easy to slip into boasting without much effort.
We've got to be mindful. You always pick such interesting topics, Dora, and by doing so, you make us think. Thank you for all you do here on HP and elsewhere! Expressing gratitude to those who have helped us succeed is important, but boasting about our success is inappropriate behaviour. Thanks for the reminder, Dora. It really needs to be read a few times before understanding the reality of God being the real provider of everything we have.
Understanding that makes us less boastful, and more thankful as a people. I have also noticed, It don't matter who we are, we can all "slowly" fall into the trap of boasting without even being aware, and apart from deuteronomy, there's lot's of other reasons why boasting is not good. That's what reminders are for. I once had a co-worker who was never bashful about saying precisely what she was good at, what highly placed people she knew, what people supposedly complimented her on, etc.
Christians can easily tap into that and lament the growing immorality and loss of truth around us. But we have to be careful not to be in a constant state of negativity.
When Christians are more well known for what they are against than what they are for, we all lose. On your social media accounts, be sure to share truth, beauty, and goodness. Every day the world is up in arms about something. We debate new laws, point fingers in the aftermath of tragedy and feel the need to defend or attack every presidential tweet. I know so many college and seminary educated Christians whose Twitter feeds amount to nothing more than their commentary on current hot topics.
Christians would be better off representing their savior with dignity and charity than having a meltdown over whatever the headlines were that day. Politics are important, but they are not the most important. Politics can become a serious distraction from the Gospel and the Great Commission. What a shame! Let me ask you a question. If someone were to scan through your social media accounts, what would they think mattered more to you, your faith or your political party? Glorifying self is the oldest sin the book.
Avoid the temptation to use social media as an avenue to make yourself look great. We all know it sounds tacky to brag right? So what do we do? We humble-brag!
Here are some examples: We cover up bragging with self-deprecation. So honored to have a good friend like him who remembers nobodies like me! Instead of humblebragging, just celebrate! While that is a good sentiment, why are we really posting those thoughts for all of social media land to see?
For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. The affirmation from your Father in heaven is all you need. Honestly, I get sick of seeing people post about their social media fasts. If you need to contact me, you can contact me by email or text.
0コメント