“You are bragging, aren’t you?” I overheard Jim, my wife’s dad, say that to her recently. He asked her how she was doing and she said, “Well.” Sunday morning I asked one of our leaders at Tallowood how he was doing. He answered, “Somewhere between terrific and magnificent.” I love it because I know his heart and I know he was not bragging, but telling the truth.
What causes us to brag? All of us have accomplishments or gifts which make us want to speak up. In a works-based world, we must brag in our own accomplishments to justify our worth and our existence. Paul lived in that world before Christ changed him. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, as it pertained to the law blameless. Then on the Damascus road he encountered Christ and surrendered all of his religious accomplishment in favor of the greater gift of God’s grace.
Paul still bragged after he became a Christian, but like my wife and my friend, he bragged about Jesus. “May I never boast . . .” is also translated, “God forbid that I should boast . . .” Paul put all of his confidence in the cross. As a follower of Jesus, Paul had been crucified with Christ. Now he was dead to sin and sin was dead to him. But he was alive in Christ, “somewhere between terrific and magnificent,” all because of Jesus! Christians, so are we! Go ahead and brag about Jesus. Declare the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light! You won’t be bragging, but telling the Truth!
