On Bragging

Anyone else ever catch yourself trying for a stealth-brag? What I mean by a stealth-brag is when you deliberately insert information into a conversation to make yourself look impressive while trying to make it seem accidental - like you are extremely humble and would never brag on yourself, but this thing you don't really care about or think of as impressive just naturally came up in conversation. I hate to admit I've caught myself in this on a number of occasions. Bragging is socially unacceptable, especially in Christian circles. So overt bragging usually accomplishes the opposite of its desired result. Other people are actively unimpressed. But instead of aiming at genuine humility, my twisted brain can lead me into simply trying to be more under-cover about trying to impress people.

Last week, I was meditating on these words from Jeremiah,

"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 the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the Lord who executes kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,'

declares the Lord."

What if instead of bragging about ourselves, we bragged about God's kindness to us? What if instead of looking for excuses to insert stealth-brags, we looked for excuses to talk about how wonderful it is to know God and to receive kindness from him? I'm going to try something starting this week. Whenever I have the urge to try to impress someone, I'm going to look for a way to brag on the goodness of God instead. Will you try this with me?

A prayer for this week:

Father, take away from me the need to impress others. If I am about to boast, either subtly or not-so-subtly, stop me and remind me that there is nothing of value to be gained in such foolishness. Remind me of your great kindness and help me to tell of how wonderful it is to know you. Amen.

Love in Christ,

Michelle