Brag About it

    When we were created, we were all blessed with certain gifts and skills unique to us. These gifts, combined with the make-up of our personalities and environments, shape our future for Jesus. He has equipped us in a very specific way to live out His plan for our lives and glorify Him as we do so. Considering that all we have is given from Him, why do we sometimes feel justified in a little bragging as if we had done these things for ourselves?

    The only good in us is from God. We are a fallen people living from our flesh without Him. And our flesh only reaps destruction! There is nothing worth boasting about in our flesh. We were created in the image of God, yet we still compare ourselves to other fallen men and boast as if we are good! When we seek out Jesus, He forms us more and more into His glorious image as we were created to be. He is the mold by which our "goodness" is measured, not others. How could we ever compare to the One who made us and designed us? But by the grace of God, we are molded into His image and can boast of the good He has done in us. The process has nothing to do with us except for our willingness to choose to follow Him. Therefore all the good that could possibly be in us comes from Him!

Luke 18:19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone." (NIV)

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (NLT)

Ephesians 2:8-10 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 10:12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant! (NLT)

James 4:16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (ESV)

Isaiah 10:15 But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself? (NLT)

    Just a reminder today that we should be boasting, but it should be in Him. In the times we are weak, His strength shines through most clearly. In those circumstances, there could be no other way but Him and it allows those around us to clearly see His power at work. So do not be shy about your shortcomings, but tell the world how He will come through and watch Him do so!

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (NIV)

    Lastly, remember to whom the glory belongs when someone gives you a compliment. It may sound odd, but Jesus deserves all the compliments. When we allow ourselves to be glorified for our goodness, it cuts God out of the picture. Humbly accept compliments and point them back at Him. Be proud of His work in your life and proclaim it loudly! Boast in His beautiful perfection. 

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (NIV)

Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says:"Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!" (NLT)