I'm the Best at Not Bragging

"Anything you do for the sake of personal glory is sin." ~Trip Lee

"Bang--Bang! Look at these guns! You know where I got 'em? From bailing hay all summer! That's right, and I got paid too. Beat that," said my imaginary friend, Bruce. "Alright," I replied, "no problem. See these guns?" "No." "Then you're not looking hard enough, because I'm using them all the time; fighting off demons, that is. I got these from reading God's word all summer! Yup, and I got paid too, a whole bunch more than you did--I'm going to be getting a mansion in heaven some day! Only thing is that I don't really care about the mansion, I'm content with these guns. I'd recommend looking into some yourself!"

As Trip Lee said it, "the root of bragging is thinking something you have is so amazing that everyone needs to know about it." I know that bragging isn't a perfect way to look at this, because the root of the word implies selfishness, but I think if you start bragging to those around you and you don't include yourself doing anything to earn what you got, people will start to get the picture!

"Everything you have was given to you. So why would you brag when all you did was accept a gift?" ~1 Corinthians 4:7 Paraphrase

 "He’s too great to keep to ourselves...[we] were built to brag on Him." ~Trip Lee

There are those (especially at my workplace) who say they are Christians but still cuss and act anything but the part. And then there are those (I'm guilty of it) who act the part of a Christian but never say a thing. People will assume you're just a nice person.

"Every decision you make is an opportunity to be a mirror, reflecting the goodness of your Maker. Each second is an chance to be a monitor, showcasing snapshots of His glory.  And when those around us catch glimpses of that goodness, we get to tell them that our light is only a dim reflection of His. The truth is, bragging with our lives and our lips goes hand in hand. If we only brag with our lives, people may assume we’re just nice people. They won’t know who compels us to live such good lives. And if our words say God is amazing, but our lives say otherwise, our claims lose credibility. We must do both." ~Trip Lee

It's like saying, "Yeah I have this really cool new iPhone 5, but honestly you should be idolizing my friend, who has the iPhone 6--forget me man." Nobody does that, and yet we should. When somebody says that you're a nice person and never do or say anything wrong, are always on time for work, and always give your best effort, we should respond by saying, "Man, that's nothing! I wouldn't be able to do it if it wasn't for Christ changing my life for the better! Everything I'm doing is still just a step down from what he is, so you should check Him out, for sure!" So why not? Let's practice that kind of response in our own lives.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. ~Matthew 5:16 (ESV)