“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else and not your own lips.” Proverbs 27:2

So easy to say, so hard to do.  When you’ve succeeded at something difficult, or accomplished something really significant – you just want to tell everyone.  I think there’s a time and place for celebrating, we just have to be careful with our words and our motives.  Boasting implies that your good fortune is a result of your own efforts.  Have you forgotten that everything you have has come from God?

“Who makes you different from anyone else?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” 1 Corinthians 4:7

Remember King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4?  He exalted himself (my kingdom, my residence, I built, my splendor, etc.) and stole the glory that belonged to God.  And for that he got to wander as an insane man in the fields for several years… until he acknowledged God as master of the universe in all His glory.

Remember Gideon?  Do you remember why God only allowed him to take 300 men to battle?  It was so that Israel would recognize that God had delivered them and not claim the victory by their own might (Judges 7:2).

Why do you think man’s self-confidence and reliance on his own strength is so repulsive to God?  What do you do to battle pride, to keep it out of your own life?

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”  Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10

By the way, in the back of the devotional book there’s a list of positive things you can do with your tongue (instead of just always trying to not be negative!).

Today – instead of boasting – applaud someone else’s achievement!

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30 Days to Taming Your Tongue, a Bible study by Deborah Pegues