Boasting

Pretense and pomp are so pervasive throughout the breadth humanity that there is a distinct risk of losing sight of true worth.  Some people are so proud of their own talents or wealth, that they will eschew humility in favor of pride and elitism.  Others can feel so insecure in their depths that they play roles of pretense to hide their inner fears.  The concept is boasting.  The question is, what's worth boasting about?

Scripture presents a clear and unified account of the value of boasting as well as offering the only acceptable outlet for humanity's natural inclination for boasting.  Man has such an ingrained propensity for boasting that it is no wonder that the Bible speaks about it so directly.  Jeremiah 9:23-24 is the litmus in any discussion of boasting: the wise man shouldn't boast in his wisdom, the strong man in his strength, or the rich man in his riches; the only reasonable source of boasting in in the knowledge of the Lord (Jer. 9:23-24).

If we would consider this merely a contextual matter for the Old Testament, we need only look into the letters of Paul to the church in Corinth.  In both of the letters, Paul quotes from Jeremiah, indicating clearly that the one who boast shall only boast in the Lord.  This is a unified biblical doctrine that we should understand for its importance.  Boasting requires a focus, a source of the boast.

Ultimately, to boast is to amplify a trait, resource, or talent, to such an elevated state of importance that its worth becomes the measurement of all worth.  In essence, boasting makes the thing boasted about be the marker for any discussion of value.  Because any worth or value that held next to the Lord is but an echo of the true value of the Lord.  This is why boasting that is not in the Lord is of no value because whatever is boasted about is not of true value.  Therefore, let us boast only of the Lord and the relationship He's given us through His son.