Boast in the Lord
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James 4:10: Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Are you proud? Think back to the last time you felt pride in something you did or someone you know. It's a great self-esteem booster, to achieve or accomplish something; we store our accomplishments in our memories for recall when we are down or not feeling so great about ourselves.
As Christians in America, we are in constant battle with the positive and negative connotations of the word 'pride'. The word boast appears in the New Testament 44 times, and 19 of those are in a negative context. That's less than half of the references; let's take a look at some of the positive references to boasting:
2 Corinthians 10:17
But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD.
Romans 15:17
Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.
2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Hebrews 3:6
but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house— whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
Followers of Christ are instructed to give God the glory for everything good, and with excellent reason. God is responsible for all the good things in our lives! We do have reason to be proud-we are children of the living God! That pride should not extend to our relationship with him, however.
When was the last time you prayed on your knees? When you were in a desperate situation, at the end of your rope? Maybe you've never done it. Maybe it seems like a cliche to ACTUALLY get on your knees. Well, whether you physically kneel down or not isn't really the issue. The issue is the condition of our hearts when we pray to our God. An emotional and intellectual posture of humility shows God our love and our gratitude for all He has done. It also opens our hearts and our minds to hear what He has to say to us. We are not served by bringing the chip on our shoulder into our conversations with God. We might as well put cotton in our ears and a gag in our mouths. We can't pray effectively, and we can't listen for the answers.
James makes a powerful statement about being humble, but it's so much easier said than done. We need to practice humility in our daily lives; with friends and family, in our workplaces and schools, in our cars on the roads. Most importantly, we need to be open to God's guiding hand on our lives. He will show us how, if we will respond in obedience.
Are you proud? Think back to the last time you felt pride in something you did or someone you know. It's a great self-esteem booster, to achieve or accomplish something; we store our accomplishments in our memories for recall when we are down or not feeling so great about ourselves.
As Christians in America, we are in constant battle with the positive and negative connotations of the word 'pride'. The word boast appears in the New Testament 44 times, and 19 of those are in a negative context. That's less than half of the references; let's take a look at some of the positive references to boasting:
2 Corinthians 10:17
But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD.
Romans 15:17
Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.
2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Hebrews 3:6
but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house— whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
Followers of Christ are instructed to give God the glory for everything good, and with excellent reason. God is responsible for all the good things in our lives! We do have reason to be proud-we are children of the living God! That pride should not extend to our relationship with him, however.
When was the last time you prayed on your knees? When you were in a desperate situation, at the end of your rope? Maybe you've never done it. Maybe it seems like a cliche to ACTUALLY get on your knees. Well, whether you physically kneel down or not isn't really the issue. The issue is the condition of our hearts when we pray to our God. An emotional and intellectual posture of humility shows God our love and our gratitude for all He has done. It also opens our hearts and our minds to hear what He has to say to us. We are not served by bringing the chip on our shoulder into our conversations with God. We might as well put cotton in our ears and a gag in our mouths. We can't pray effectively, and we can't listen for the answers.
James makes a powerful statement about being humble, but it's so much easier said than done. We need to practice humility in our daily lives; with friends and family, in our workplaces and schools, in our cars on the roads. Most importantly, we need to be open to God's guiding hand on our lives. He will show us how, if we will respond in obedience.
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