Boasting in the Lord

This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth for in these I delight” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

There is a parallel to this in 1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5:

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’ When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

The difficulty with being in secular communities is living with the continual emphasis on man’s wisdom, riches, and strength. We can get caught up in it and somehow think it is good. Pray with me that we will each have Jeremiah’s view and Paul’s.

Written in 1982.