What are you boasting about?

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Scripture

Gal. 6:14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Observation

Paul had suffered through a lot in his life.  He had also been successful but he realized that there was absolutely nothing worth boasting about, except the cross of Christ. 

Application

There are many things in life which we think are important for us to accomplish.  We work hard on those things and at the end of the day we feel that we may be able to boast about them, but compared to what Christ has done for us on the cross, they are nothing.  There is nothing that we as humans can accomplish that is worth boasting about, except for the fact that we have been crucified with Christ.  The only goal we have in life is to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.  All of the rest is fluff, and sometimes that fluff becomes a distraction to what God really wants to accomplish in our lives. 

Let's not worry about human accomplishments today, but rather, keep our eyes fixed on Christ!  Let us crucify the things of this world that may be a distraction to our relationship with him. 

I remember a day nearly twenty years ago when I was in Moscow, Russia.  We were in our very first apartment there in Moscow, one that we had rented and were trying to fix up.  I was just trying to manage living life on a daily basis.  Everything was so much more time intensive.  I was washing clothes in the bathtub, and the only thing in our kitchen was a sink.  But it was in those moments that I learned that the things of the world are really meaningless in light of Jesus Christ.  I didn't need "things," because I had Jesus and he brought me incredible joy and satisfaction.  My joy was to share the good news of Jesus Christ with a world around me that was struggling with so many losses.  Today I look back on that time and I'm so grateful that God used it to shape and to form me.  I truly want nothing else than to clothe myself with him! 

Prayer

Lord, may I never boast in anything, but you!  Amen.

Comments

  1. JRBWMarch 15, 2012 at 5:17 AM

    Thank you for this post....I needed this reminder of who I hold to and will see me through the minor difficulties of life. Let me keep my eyes fixed on Him...

    ReplyDelete
  2. RebWBCjrMarch 15, 2012 at 8:45 AM

    A quote by Katherine Drexel, from my devotions this morning, is making me ponder the conflict of worldly values versus God's heart: "You have no time to occupy your thoughts with that complacency or consideration of what others will think. Your business is simply, 'What will my Father in heaven think?'"
    We cannot boast our success as our own but as God's work through us. We do not need things, except as means to accomplish God's purposes. We must maintain our focus on our Father's will, while recognizing that others may misunderstand & criticize our actions/words. Life is filled with conflict; only in God is there true peace, joy, and hope.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carla SunbergMarch 19, 2012 at 8:33 AM

    RevWBCjr -- thank you so much for that beautiful quote! Great words for us to hear.

    ReplyDelete

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