Jesus is the only person who ever lived who had any right to brag about Himself. But, where do you read Him doing that? You don’t! In fact, just the opposite! The “mind” of Jesus was to do “nothing…through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind” to “esteem others better than himself” (Phil. 2:3-5). And those verses in Philippians are telling us to do the same.
The Bible tells us that agape love—which is the unselfish, unconditional, sacrificial love described in Philippians 2:3-5—“does not brag” (1 Cor. 13:4). A child of God makes the choice to “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth” (Prov. 27:2), for “to seek one’s own glory is not glory” (Prov. 25:27). No wonder the braggadocios Pharisee who “prayed thus with himself” was not “justified” in the eyes of God, for, as Jesus said, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” (Luke 18:11, 14). Who would ever want to be “humbled” by God?
Bragging about self ought to turn our stomachs and churn our souls, as God Himself “is opposed” to such behavior (1 Pet. 5:5).
