Boasters praise themselves extravagantly and speak of themselves with excessive pride.1 They inflate a Praise Me balloon with helium and suspend it for all to see. An unintended consequence is that many people try to shoot it down because that balloon in their faces makes them feel smaller.
Pride or a big ego is sometimes behind boasting, but poor social skills, social anxiety, or low self-esteem may also trigger it. Some types of boasting are obvious, whereas others are more subtle.2 Let’s look at how the Bible portrays various aspects of boasting.
Does the Bible universally condemn boasting? It surprised me to discover that the Apostle Paul boasts more than any other biblical character. In this blog, we will first consider what the Bible teaches about self-centered boasting and then different kinds of boasting in the next.
Self-Centered Boasting
The Bible universally condemns self-centered boasting. Glorying in our accomplishments upsets God (Judges 7:2) because it ignores His gifts that made them possible. “For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? 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 Corinthians 4:7 NLT).
God's gifts enable everything we do. We have nothing to brag about. Wise people glorify the Giver and not their gifts.
Wise, strong, or rich people should not boast in their wisdom, strength, or riches but that they know the Lord who delights in kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth (Jeremiah 9:23–24). Being humble is associated with listening and paying attention to the Lord, glorifying Him, and acknowledging Him.
Pride is associated with arrogance and boasting, forgetting God, and worshipping substitutes for God (Jeremiah 13:20). Pride and insolence are futile. They accomplish nothing (Jeremiah 48:30).
Haman boasted about his wealth, many sons, and how the king had honored him. He revealed his “I” problems (Esther 5:11). Boasters usually are all wrapped up in themselves (Revelation 18:7).
The spotlight must always be on them. They pursue personal glory in a God-centered universe (Acts 8:9). How supremely dysfunctional! Instead of glorifying God’s goodness, they revile the Lord and boast about the evil cravings of their hearts (Psalm 10:3).
It is especially foolish to boast of accomplishments before rather than after achieving them (1 Kings 20:11). Those who boast about an uncertain future behave as though they can make it certain when they can’t (Proverbs 27:1).
Ammon boasted of its agricultural accomplishments and riches and imagined it was invulnerable to attack (Jeremiah 49:4). Edom boasted it would take possession of Israel and Judah as if God had no say. God punished them for their proud boasting (Ezekiel 35:13).
Israel boasted about the wealth gained through deceitful practices (Hosea 12:8). Conversely, it bragged about its religious devotion while living far from the Lord (Amos 4:5).
Boasting about our future self-serving plans we think we can independently carry out is evil. It excludes God from the equation. It is living as if God doesn’t exist (James 4:16).
Boasters act like they are in control of life and accountable to no one (Psalm 12:3). The psalmist asked God to silence such people.
The arrogant exalt themselves instead of God. Pride and boasting are connected (Psalm 75:4, Psalm 94:4).
Moab was proud, arrogant, and conceited. Her empty pride oozed like pus from those self-glorying characteristics (Isaiah 16:6).
Edom gloated, rejoiced, and spoke arrogantly when its Israelite relatives were exiled to distant lands (Obadiah 1:12). Boasting is associated with arrogance and resisting God’s word and ways (Romans 1:30). God will judge proud, arrogant, and haughty people.
Note that the proud, boastful spirit keeps bad company. “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God” (2 Timothy 3:2–4 NLT). There is nothing praiseworthy about any of that.
Pride is an “I know better than you do” attitude. It underlies self-centered boasting and launches the wrong use of the tongue which causes catastrophic damage (James 3:5).
The worst kind of boasting is boasting about evil by those who love evil rather than good and lies rather than truth (Psalm 52:1). In the same category are those who boast about idols rather than the Creator of the heavens and earth (Psalm 97:7). The Bible universally condemns self-centered boasting. #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
See free spiritual growth resources for Christians at https://www.christiangrowthresources.com
God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship eBook. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 2,400 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 5,836 people. I invite you to check it out. https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness
Kommentare