Boasting in the Lord

A passage of Scripture that made a strong impression on me early in my walk with God was Jeremiah 9:23-24. Here’s how it reads in the NLT.

“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!’”

A self-promoting, self-congratulatory person is never pleasant to be around. You may remember that it’s been said, “Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the person that has it.”

I’d like to take you through a few verses that talk, though, about the importance of truly boasting in the Lord!

David wrote, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm” (Psa 20:7-8 NLT).

Both of these verses — the one from Jeremiah and the one from the Psalm — reveal that we can trust in God or in “not God.” Only trust in God will see us through in the end.

D. L. Moody recognized this when he powerfully said, “Trust in yourself, and you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in your friends and they will die and leave you. Trust in money and you may have it taken away from you. Trust in reputation and some slanderous tongues will blast it. But trust in God and you are never to be confounded in time or in eternity.”

In another place, David taught that we are to be proactive in boasting about (or praising) God. He wrote: “I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together” (Psa 34:1-3 NLT).

We know that salvation is a gift from God, and Paul reminds us who receives the glory. “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” (Eph 2:8-9 NLT).

Everything about our salvation, and everything about who we are and what we have from God is an expression of God’s love, grace, and kindness. This is why Paul wrote, “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD” (1 Cor 1:30-31 NLT).

We also need to remember not to become proud or arrogant when God chooses to use us. Isaiah asks, “Is the axe greater than the one who wields it? Is the saw greater than the one who cuts with it? Can the axe strike without a hand to move it? Can a lifeless wooden cane walk all by itself?” (Isa 10:15 TPT). Speaking along the same lines, Paul asked, “What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?” (1 Cor 4:7 NLT).

In life and in ministry, there is something very significant about “coming to the end of ourselves.” It is natural, I suppose, to lean on the arm of the flesh, but we quickly learn how futile that is. In another place, Moody warned, “When a man thinks he has got a good deal of strength, and is self-confident, you may look for his downfall. It may be years before it comes to light, but it is already commenced.” A related statement, often attributed to Augustine, is that “Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent and self-sustained.”

We know that Paul was very principled, and we see his mentality revealed in his writings. He said, “As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died” (Gal 6:14 NLT).

When Paul was dealing with the self-promoting super-apostles in 2 Corinthians 11, he remarked, “If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am” and “I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Cor 11:30 and 12:9 NLT).

Remember the phrase from the Lord’s prayer, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”? (Matt 6:10). I realize we’re not in Heaven yet, but Jesus certainly desires that Heaven’s culture influence us in the here-and-now. Consider this scene from around the Throne of God.

Revelation 4:9-11 (NLT)
9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, 11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

Whatever “crowns” we receive, either there or here, let’s make sure that we are quick to place them before Him in worship!