“On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.” (2 Corinthians 12:5–6, ESV)
One of the things with which I have struggles after the Lord called me into the pastoral ministry was writing a resume. When we write a resume, we are to give an honest representation of who we are. It generally will include our education, our work experiences, and our accomplishments. When I look back at my life, there have been many accomplishments. Honestly, I do take pride in them. My problem in writing a resume that I would send out to churches looking for a pastor was that I did not want to cross the line into boasting. Yet even if we are telling the truth on these resumes, it may be taken the wrong way. So, it is a concern.
Paul in countering the false teachers claims of their credentials, wrote his resume. He had the pedigree as an Israelite and a servant of Christ. He had worked hard in his calling. He went through many hardships. He carried a burden for all the churches. Now he wrote of an experience of being caught up into paradise of where he heard things of which he could not speak (2 Cor 12:1-4).
Paul wrote of this experience in paradise in the third person. He mentioned that he would boast of that person but not of himself. He would only boast of his own weaknesses. Why was this the case? He went on to indicate that even if he was “speaking the truth,” he would “refrain from it.” The reason for refraining was to avoid having people elevate him. He did not want people to think more highly of him than was proper. What was proper? It was not what Paul did but what the Lord did through Paul. Paul wanted the glory given to God and not himself.
All of us should take a lesson from Paul. I will speak for myself but I know that I am not alone since we all have an inner desire for recognition. We all want to be seen by others in the best light. We all have a inner desire of the flesh, which is pride. This inner desire tempts us to boast in ourselves.
Yet it is not just boasting about ourselves that is a problem. We can with all the best intentions tell the truth about what we have accomplished and end up with a wrong response. It can happen that people will exalt us, which steals the glory from God who made every accomplishment a reality. Let us remember in recollecting our accomplishments to give honor to whom honor is due. It is not of ourselves. It is of the Lord our God. He has worked providentially in our lives to make all things possible. Let us just be careful to make sure that others do not lift us up more than they should.
Renewing the Heart 