Boasting

It has been brought to my attention that my previous blog may have seemed like I was boasting about what was going on in our lives…well the fact is, I was boasting!
Just as there is anger that is sinful like that which is full of pride and selfishness, there is also anger that is righteous like that of Christ’s anger upon finding the temple courts were turned into a “den of thieves.” There is also pride that is selfish and pride that is righteous. We should never be prideful in ways that will put us on a pedestal, trying to get people to proclaim our greatness. But it is alright and actually good to take pride in doing things well so that God is glorified or in things that extol the virtues of Christ and proclaim his Greatness.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 speaks about this. Paul writes about boasting/pride in many of his writings, the good side and the sinful side. This passage ends with Paul quoting Jeremiah 9:23-24, which goes like this, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let those who boast boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on  earth, for in these I delight,’ Declares the Lord.”

Paul summarizes this passage by saying, “Let those who boast boast in the Lord.” In other words, boast about things that give God glory. Jesus said just about the same thing in John 9:1-3 talking about a man born blind, not because someone sinned, but so that God would be glorified. The death of Lazarus speaks to the same matters as well as Jesus’ words in John 17 when he asks God to glorify him so that He would be able to Glorify God the Father.

My point in all of this is that my previous blog post, Downsizing?, was not written so I could boast about how wonderful Kristine and I are and how we have been able live for very little and to some how get people to feel sorry for us because of our state of homelessness. The whole purpose of the post is to point everyone to the amazing God that we serve and the wonderful miraculous ways he provides for his children. It has all been God stretching us, teaching us, and leading us only so we can boast about Him and his “kindness, justice and righteousness.”

He is worthy of our boasting and when we hold back the boasting that he deserves we put ourselves into a place of selfish pride. It would be like a musical artist singing a song that someone else wrote but not giving that person the credit for the song.

Could it be that when we get offended when others boast about what God is doing in their lives, it is because we don’t see what God is doing in our lives? Maybe we believe that we don’t really need God and we are able to take care of things ourselves. Maybe we think we really don’t need Him in our lives.

So… I will boast.

I will continue to boast so that God is glorified. When he is seen for who he is and what he does others will turn to him. He is irresistible when his people boast about him.