Bragging and Boasting
1 Samuel 2:3 Don’t continue bragging. Don’t speak proud words, because the Lord God knows everything.
In a world where everybody seems to be trying to impress everybody else, there’s a lot of bragging and boasting going on. Just check what people are saying about themselves on social media for instance. And it ain’t all that pretty, is it?
Have you ever set out to impress somebody? You really wanted them to think well of you, so you did everything you could to put your best foot forward. And yet somehow, you still fell short of their expectations. How did it make you feel?
The expectations that others put on us, can really be quite a powerful influence on our lives and sometimes, they can make you do silly things.
Just consider for a moment, all the different people in your life – family, friends, work, acquaintances – and the different expectations that each of them has of you. It’s pretty scary isn’t it? How much of your time and energy do you spend trying to impress other people?
It can drive you around the twist, trying to dance to all those different tunes. And for some, trying to meet everyone else’s expectations makes them feel so insecure, that they feel they have to start telling other people how good they are.
1 Samuel 2:3 Don’t continue bragging. Don’t speak proud words, because the Lord God knows everything.
Have you ever heard someone do that? Self-promotion is a pretty crass thing, but beneath the crassness, generally, lies a deep insecurity.
Here’s the bottom line.
You can’t be all things to all people. You simply can’t. Yes, love them. Yes, be kind and generous to them. But don’t fall into the trap of trying to please them all. Don’t let their expectations lead you into bragging and self-promotion.
The best thing that you can possibly do, is to be the best you that you can possibly be.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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