Tag Archives: boast

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

But let the one who boasts boast about this

I don’t know about you, but I was taught not to boast. Not that I did a lot that was worth boasting about. I never worked that hard really. I was a decent student, but I wasn’t super motivated. I can’t say that I’ve achieved a lot by the world’s standards even now. I have reduced my working hours so that I can remain at peace and have more patience with my teenage boys. It’s worked, and it’s a huge blessing, but as the world sees it, all I really did was reduce the amount of money that was coming in the door. My boys struggle with knowing that as well. Every now and then they ask if I could go back to work so we could have more money, but then I ask, “Do you want “mean mommy” back?” They quickly say no. They like it that I’m calmer now when they come home. I work from home, and often wanted them to be quiet when they came home so I could quickly finish working. So I would snap and be grumpy. Never mind they were coming into their home, not an office (as far as they were concerned).

I can boast:

Being home without a super large workload has allowed me more time for Bible study, devotions, writing my blog and spending time with people in prayer. I’m no saint. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working on a lot of things, but having time to worship God on a daily basis has allowed me to get to know my Lord more.

But let the one who boasts boast about this: That they have the understanding to know me

One thing that is so amazing is how the Lord reveals Himself in scripture and through prayer. Spending even 5 minutes a day reading His word can make a difference in my outlook for the whole day. I’m excited about my faith, and the faith of others. I enjoy discovering God’s truths (sometimes for the first time, sometimes being reminded of old discoveries) with my sisters in Christ. Mostly I enjoy sharing the joy they have when they see the difference knowing the Lord is having on their reactions to unkindness, injustice and stress. As we journey with Christ through the scriptures, we’re led to know Him more and that changes a person. Knowing your creator and savior is powerful.

But let the one who boasts boast about this: that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth

So now I will boast. I boast in my Lord who loves me and who loves you. He shows us kindness through His grace, mercy and patience as we are being set free from the bondage of hate, addiction and abuse. He is patient, so that we might not be lost, but that instead we might know Him. That we would know that he is the one who exercises kindness. He’s the Lord, and He exercises justice – you can trust Him to handle the vengeance you want to take out on those who’ve hurt you. He is righteous, and is exercising righteousness through His Son Jesus Christ who gave us righteousness by dying on the cross so that we would not be left to our own failing attempts at righteousness. Instead we are free to strive for righteousness because He has already washed us clean from all our sin and failures.

Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches

All of these things are good, but we need to recognize the source of them. We can’t boast in our wisdom, because any wisdom we have is from the Lord. We can not boast in our strength, but we can boast in the Lord giving us strength. We can not boast in our riches, because they are a gift from God. These things are all temporary and do not amount to anything without faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus. With Him, these things can have purpose, meaning and value. But only in Christ to they have any value at all. Only if they point back to Him.

We can boast: in Christ.