Message from Dan Stauffer, JH/SH Math Teacher

"What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?" 1 Corinthian 4:7

I like verses like this that set me straight on who I am. How prone I can be to boasting in the "great" things I have accomplished! This attitude can make me frustrated or impatient with others, because the focus is on me, and naturally I'm not too sure about you and the way you do things. When I boast in myself, I say through my words and actions that I'm relying on my own strength rather than on who Jesus is and what he has done for me. I need to remind myself that the one whom I always should be exalting is God.

There is, indeed, a good kind of boasting. It is boasting in God. In fact, we can never exaggerate the greatness of God, because he is infinitely greater than all we could ever imagine or describe. When we boast in the Lord, we say through our words and actions that we're relying on Jesus and on what he has done for us rather than on our own strength. We take the focus off ourselves, and we see every good thing in our lives as a gift from him. We realize we have done nothing to earn or deserve the favor of God, but he has chosen to love us (in spite of who we are). Jesus loves us, this we know. What a wonderful God we serve!