Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 11:2, Boasting is Unbecoming

by Marilynn Chadwick

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Proverbs 11:2 NIV

Proverbs 11:2 warns us about the destructive nature of pride. The Message paraphrase provides a commonsense twist, "The stuck-up fall flat on their faces, but down-to-earth people stand firm."

Let's face it. Boasting is practically a national pastime. It's as American as apple pie. Our athletes swagger. Our celebrities strut. Bumper stickers flaunt our favorite teams, our super kids, and our alma maters. Our talents, treasures, and triumphs win us bragging rights. At times, we all like to toot our own horn. I grew up in the deep South where we had an expression for the ultimate boast: "No brag. Just fact."

What's so bad about a little dose of healthy pride? After all, it can be satisfying to look at our accomplishments. The dictionary defines "boast" this way: "To talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities." A healthy sense of pride is not altogether wrong.

But when does pride cross into the danger zone? When does pride separate us from God? The Bible warns us we are on shaky ground when we begin to trust our human strength instead of depending on God. The antidote, according to Scripture, is to seek humility.

The book of James, often called the "Proverbs of the New Testament," takes this same warning a step further. He challenges not just our pride of accomplishment, but also our presumptuous plans:

"Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on our business and make money. You ought instead to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that [thing]. But as it is, you boast [falsely] in your presumption and your self-conceit. All such boasting is wrong." James 4:13,15-16 AMP

Boasting is unbecoming for the believer in Jesus. As James reminds us, we're not in control of our lives. God is God and we are not. If we could gain control of our world for even one minute, we would be shocked at our inadequacy to "run the world." No wonder Adam and Eve hid in shame after they presumed to become "like God" (Genesis 3:7-10).

We can be thankful when the Lord reminds us of our humanity. He is God, and we are not, and most trouble in life comes when we get those two things mixed up. We can rest in the promises of God's sovereign control of every aspect of our lives.

So today, let's choose to "humble ourselves before the Lord." We may find in due time that he will "lift us up" (James 4:10) in his way and in his time as we trust in him and not in our own strength.