Boasting in the Lord
I climbed into the van one Sabbath morning with a huff, grumbling because my younger brother was bugging me. I was sixteen at the time, and my brother was only fourteen but already much taller than me. I had wrongly assumed that once my brother surpassed me in height, he would magically turn into the perfect brother. I was frustrated that he still annoyed and picked on me, wondering why he wasn’t “perfect” yet.
Can you relate? It’s so easy for me to see all the faults in other’s lives; they seem so plain-as-day! How can they not see it in themselves?
And then God stepped in. While I was at church that day, admiring my dress in the mirror, I felt God say one word: pride.
That stopped me in my tracks. Pride. I abhorred that word. Prideful people frustrated me, but I could tell that God wasn’t talking about anyone else when He spoke that word.
Pride.
“You keep pointing out the faults in others, their shortcomings. You can see pride in the hearts of others, but you haven’t taken time to examine your own heart of pride,” God told me. Conviction really set in in that moment.
I knew God was totally right (He always is, anyway). I was full of pride. To someone on the outside, I may not have looked prideful, but if anyone could see inside of me, they’d see pride.
I thought higher of myself than my brother. He was the one causing all our arguments, not me.
I thought higher of myself than certain friends of mine, thinking I needed to be a good example for them.
I certainly liked to compare my looks to other girls. Am I prettier, or are they?
I did my best to be perfect at all times. If anything didn’t go according to my plans, I’d freak out. My “perfect” image was being messed up!
The root of all these thoughts is pride. I didn’t used to think I struggled with being prideful. After all, I’m a quiet person, and I’d always assumed that only those who loved the spotlight struggled with pride. On that Sabbath, God showed me how I needed to change.
First off, it was time to stop comparing myself to others.
Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5
I’ve learned that often the annoying things I notice in others are things I’m struggling with in my own life (and often have more of a problem than the other person). God challenged me to quit worrying about the problems in other people’s lives and start doing something about the sin in my life. I cannot grow closer to God by judging His creation. To grow, I must let God be God and do His work in me and trust Him to do His work in others, too.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13
God hates pride. He doesn’t want pride in my life. I needed to repent and let God take away my pride.
I play the comparison game often, wondering if I measure up to the other girls around me. But we are all created in God’s image (see Genesis 1:27). When I try to say that I’m not as good as so and so, or that I’m better than so and so, I’m saying God didn’t do a good job creating her or me. That is a lie I am telling myself, and it’s not okay. Instead of comparing myself to other girls, I should be thanking God for who I am and comparing myself to Him, since we are to imitate Him (see Ephesians 5:1).
Finally, I had to face it. I’m not perfect. I am a sinner in need of grace. I can pretend to be perfect, but in the end, I will always know that I am not perfect (and of course God knows, because He can see my heart). But I have hope. Christ is in my heart, and He is perfect. He can work mightily through me, even in my imperfections.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10
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. 2 Corinthians 12:9
I cannot take pride in myself. I am not worthy. But I can boast in Christ Jesus, because He is my Savior, the One at work in my heart. He is worthy of all the praise I can give Him and more!
But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 10:17
Let us not boast in ourselves, but rather boast in the Lord, because He is worthy!
With love,
Kelsey
