Can You Boast?

Bragging is bad. Boasting is annoying. Yet, several times in the Bible, God tells us to boast.

What does God tell us to boast about? Him, of course. But, also we are told to boast about knowing Him:

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things.”

~ Jeremiah 9:23-24

It’s easy to understand that we’re not supposed to brag about wisdom or mental abilities, physical attributes, or money. We’re taught these things as children.

But, how do you boast about God?

I think it’s similar to our human boasting. It’s easy to give God high praise or brag about Him when we point out His attributes: all-knowing, mighty, holy, all-powerful, creative, beautiful, and so on.

Boasting about knowing God, however, is not something we’re trained to do. It feels prideful to brag about knowing God. It seems impossible to claim to understand God.

Do you think you can understand and know God?

We must start there. If we don’t think we can know and understand God, then we certainly cannot boast about it.

Do you think God wants you to know and understand Him?

Look how He helps us in the verses above: “I am the Lord, who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things.”

If we only know and understand these two truths about God, I believe we have something to boast about:

(1) God is the Lord. Jesus is the Lord. Being Lord over this earth means He’s in charge, He rules. Being Lord of my life means the same: God is in charge, He rules my life.

(2) God delights in lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness and He exercises those things on earth. God is looking for mankind to know that He is lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness. God wants us to exercise these things in our lives.

How do we boast about knowing and understanding these truths about God? We do our best to think, pray, speak, and act in a manner that expects our God to be in charge, to treat us with lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness.

We boast about understanding God not by bragging with words from our mouths, but by behaving in a way that points others to Him and Him alone. We boast about knowing God by telling others who He is and what delights Him, which is best communicated by our lives and not our words.

I want my life to boast about knowing and understanding God. What about you?

On my website, I have a collection of Scriptures that focus on the power and comfort of God. It would be a great place to increase your knowledge and understanding of God!

Peace and love, Kim