Boasting is detrimental to Christian fellowship and to the body. Indeed Proverbs warn us that pride (the source of boasting) comes before a fall. And the Corinthians were boasting. They were boasting at every opportunity. Unfortunately, they were pulling down Paul in their boasting because he was not a super-apostle. He was not worthy of their allegiance and love even though he was their spiritual father. He brought the gospel to them and they were rejecting him.
When you and I boast we forget that all that we have and all that we are comes from the Lord. I often think of it as a rusted out old bomb of a car in the dump yard. That was us before Christ intervened - headed for the metal crusher. But God sent Jesus into the dump yard and sought us out. He took us into His work shed. He painstakingly renewed and restored us. We have been rebuilt in Christ Jesus. Now as we drive along, what have we to boast in? Everything we are, we are because Jesus has rebuilt us. Our boasting should be in the Lord not in ourselves. Our boasting should be about what God has done, not what we’ve done.
How often do you and I boast in the Lord? How often do we tell our friends and family how great our God really is? How often do we burst into song and praise because of what God has done in our lives? As Paul says, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’.
Prayer:-
- Our brothers and sisters have very limited opportunities to boast in the Lord. Once it’s known that they are Christian, their very lives are at risk. Pray that God would allow these believers to share the greatness of the Lord with trusted friends, family and relatives. Pray that they would be encouraged as they see people come to the Lord. Pray too that more Bibles would get into Korea.
- Pray that pride in your congregation would be removed. Ask God to humble all the members of your church so that together, you rely fully on the Lord and do not seek welfare or rescue from men’s efforts and skills but wholly and solely rely upon our great and mighty God.
Do It Today
Spend about half an hour telling God how great He is - that is, spend time boasting in the Lord.
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