My mother is a “cut-up.” If somebody is verbally jostling with her, she loves to say: “Them are fighting words.” She usually gets a laugh out of that. But there are words that make her fighting mad: bragging words.
Before I go any further, I need to explain how she sees bragging. To her, it isn’t just talking well about yourself or what you’ve accomplished. It’s going overboard and saying how awesome you are while looking down on others. For instance, when I hit my first home run, she didn’t mind me telling my family and friends about it. But she would have been upset with me if I had said that it was due to my amazing skill or that I was better at batting than the other players (which I wasn’t by a long shot.)
After growing up around Mom’s bragging radar, you would think that I would be able to easily detect it. Nope. I totally missed it one time, but my mom sure didn’t. It happened back in the mid-eighties when my dad had a triple bypass heart surgery. Needless to say, I spent hours in a hospital surgical lounge with my family. In stressful conditions like that, people will talk to strangers when they usually wouldn’t. One lady began to talk about all the work she does at her church. I don’t know how long she did this because I phased her out after a while. No, I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. I was so tired and worried about my dad that I really couldn’t concentrate on everything she was saying.
Sitting on the other side if her was a dark-haired lady. When the talking lady took a small break from speaking, the darked haired woman made a comment about not going to church much. The church lady looked at the dark-haired lady as if she was from another planet. Not long after that, the talking lady was called away by the nurse. That’s when my momma leaned over to me and asked: “Did you catch all of her bragging?” I hadn’t, so she proceeded to inform me that she was bragging about all the things she does in her church the whole time she talked. I replied: “Aren’t we supposed to work in church or a ministry?” My mom promptly answered: “Yes, we are, but she was glorifying herself and not The Lord. The whole time she was bragging about her church work she never once mentioned Jesus or anybody getting saved. She even went on to say that nobody could do all that she does. And furthermore, when the lady next to her said she didn’t go to a church, the other lady had nothing else to do with her. What she should’ve done was invite her to church instead of looking down on her.”
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
The talking lady was obviously more concerned about glorifying her works instead of using her works to glorify the Lord. Make sure you are always glorifying the only One who is worthy of it.
“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and them cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” John 4:35 (KJV)
It wasn’t by chance that the lady who didn’t attend church sat by the one who was talking about her church work. Instead of turning away and looking down on her, the talking lady should have invited her to church when she had the chance. If you have an opportunity to invite someone to church, please do it. Don’t let that slip away.
If I was to ever brag about something, it would probably be how much chocolate I can eat in setting and not get sick like most people would do. But then again, I think some would consider that a survival skill.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.