Boast is defined as to “talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities.” This definition is something that does not define Christians as we are called to be humble as God opposes the proud.
However, in the Bible boasting is not always wrong, it depends on what we boast. If we boast about our earthly achievements, abilities or possessions then that is something that doesn’t please the Lord. But, if we are bragging about something that will bring glory to God just like our weaknesses, I believe that is the kind of boasting that glorifies God.
One of the best examples that we can read in the Bible regarding this can be found in the 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians where Paul penned that “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”
Not everyone can have the confidence to show their weaknesses or even boast about them as a lot believes that it will cause them to be tagged as “losers”, “weak” etc. Some of them can be Christians who are just afraid to reveal their weaknesses, while some of them can be those who are not pursuing to please God but the world. And Apostle Paul does not belong to any of those as he is one of those who are proud to show the world their weaknesses as they are those who rely on the strength that comes from Christ alone.
There are times that we don’t want others to know or see our weak points. We are too ashamed to admit that we are weak or not skilled with a certain thing. We thought that we always need to be strong just to be accepted by the people around us. We also thought that when we show our flaws, we will not be successful in achieving our goals or ambitions.
But, when Jesus found us and rescued us from our sins, He teaches us to just rely on Him on EVERYTHING! Yes, on everything! He teaches us to have the perspective that we are NOTHING WITHOUT HIM. He trains us to be honest whenever we are weak and not to be ashamed of our weaknesses, because even in those seasons– He is still the unchanging God. When we don’t have the confidence or our energy are almost gone, let us always remember that He will be our strength. We can do all this through him who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13).
