Boast in the Lord
Where glory belongs
To a church infatuated with impressive leaders and their own gifts, Paul lands a deflating, freeing truth: let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Every impulse to glory in our wisdom, strength, or achievement is to be redirected to its true object — God himself.
Jeremiah said it centuries earlier: let not the wise boast in wisdom, nor the strong in strength, nor the rich in riches; but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he knows me. The cure for self-glory is not to stop boasting altogether, but to boast in the right One.
“He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”
— Paul, to the Corinthians — 1 Corinthians 1:31 (WEB)
If you must boast, boast only in the Lord. Redirect every impulse to glory in yourself toward glorying in him.
“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom... but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me.”
Paul and Jeremiah agree: redirect boasting to God rather than repress it. A leader formed here glories in knowing God, not in his own wisdom, strength, or success. He sends every self-glorying impulse Godward. The inner work is making God, not yourself, the object of your boast.
Redirect credit and glory to God, especially when you have something impressive to point to. Refuse to let your team's culture glory in its gifts and leaders rather than in the Lord. Boast in God's faithfulness, not your achievements. Make knowing God, not impressing people, the thing worth glorying in.
Leaders accumulate things to boast in and glory in them subtly, calling it confidence or healthy pride. The blind spot is self-glory that should have been redirected to the Lord.
Name what you are most tempted to boast in this week. Each time the impulse rises, deliberately redirect it — boast in the Lord and what he has done, not in yourself.
Leaders accumulate things to boast in — wisdom, results, strength, reputation — and the temptation to glory in them is constant. Scripture redirects rather than represses the impulse: boast, yes, but boast in the Lord, not in yourself.
What are you most tempted to boast in — your wisdom, strength, or achievement — and how would it change things to boast instead in knowing God?