In what do we boast?

Webster 1828 dictionary says to boast is to glory in something, such as to speak of with laudable pride and ostentation (ambitious display) of merit or worth. It seems that the act of boasting itself is not the issue then, but the target of our boasting. That's why the question - in what do we boast?

I think most of us would confess that while we do sometimes direct our attention to the greatness around us, our most natural desire is to boast in ourselves - to want others to think well of us, to see us as worthy, desirable peeps. Even when we have low esteem and practice self-deprivation, we are boasting in pride of our self, focusing on projecting what we want others to think, to agree with us about our sense of unworthiness.The issue with boasting is not whether we think highly or lowly of ourselves, its that self is the target and source of our identity and value.


The prophet Jeremiah  (9: 23-24) reminds us "let man boast in this, that He (God) understands and knows me." Here the target of our boasting is not us but God. If we are to have any pride in our self its that God is the author of our self. He defines our identity and our value. He receives the glory, the laudable praise for everything about us. Our ambition becomes to display His merit and worth.

The Apostle Paul states that his ambition is to please God, which is to trust Him completely for well being of our self. When Paul looks at his own resume, he reminds us that he is Grade A prime beef. No one could boast about themselves as he could. Yet his resume is just, well lets say BS (manure), compared to his life being defined by faith in Jesus. 

In a world that is so unstable, where is stability? With a nature that desires to glorify self, in what should we boast?

A little pondering here can go a long way .....