Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More
Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is planning to build a base on the moon. Astronauts will live there permanently. When the astronauts were asked if they really wanted to spend the rest of their lives in a barren, lifeless, empty landscape, the Russians said, “No. That’s why we want to go to the moon.”
I know, it’s a lame joke. Have you heard this one? An American and a Russian were talking in a bar. The American began to boast about his country, claiming it’s the land of the free. He said, “I could walk straight up to the White House and shout ‘Death to the American President’ and nothing happens to me.” The Russian smirked and said, “I too can walk up to the Kremlin and shout ‘Death to the American President’, nothing bad happens to me either.”*
Ok, I hope you enjoyed those. We often tell jokes about boastful people. But when we meet a proud braggard, most of us don’t laugh and enjoy it. Do we? We consider proud, boastful people to be arrogant. Maybe we instinctively know that people who boast aren’t concerned about us.
I Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it is not proud.” (NVI) The love described is unselfish. That’s why boasting is incompatible with it. Boasting promotes self. Whether the source of boasting is insecurity or arrogance doesn’t matter. Boasting focuses on self above others. It is the opposite of love.
*”Boast Jokes,” Upjoke, https://upjoke.com/boast-jokes
How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/
Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/
Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.