Only in The Cross

     What do you boast in? Yourself? Your car? Your grades? There are a number of things in our lives that we can boast in and brag about. To boast in something is to make much of something. Paul speaks of what our boast should be, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). Paul tells to boast only in the cross, and by boasting in the Cross we, therefore, make much of the Cross. 

     I’ve caught myself saying at times, “Well Paul didn’t have this or that, it was easy for him to only boast in the cross,” but the truth is that if anyone had reason to boast it was Paul. “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (Phillipians 3:4b-6).  Paul’s resume was above any other, he was considered top notch in his day. Isn’t it interesting that on top of all that, Paul saw something better to boast about?

     I know that for me personally, boasting only in the cross is my strongest desire, but at the same time it’s my biggest struggle. It’s such a temptation to boast in the materials of this world because that’s what we’re taught is valuable in the culture that we live in. What a “crooked and depraved generation” we live in! There are instances in Paul’s letters where he mentions in boasting in other things, but I think what the apostle is trying to get across to us is that when we boast in other things, they are ultimately seens as a boast in the Cross. This is because we are to view everything we have as a “blood-bought gift.” Everything we have, from our every breath to our friends and family, is a result of the grace of God in our lives. This grace was displayed fully in the Son of God’s death on a tree. May God open our eyes to see the reality of the Cross and what His grace, displayed on that Cross, does for us each day of our lives.

…No more my God, I boast no more…