Who we are pointing to

It’s so easy to compare ourselves with others. I do it all the time.

We say things like:

“I read my Bible every day.”

“I pray.”

“I fast.”

“I tithe.”

“I sacrifice for the church.”

And then we look at others and ask, “What are you doing?”

But to compare ourselves with others, Paul says, is to lack understanding. (2 Corinthians 10:12)

What are we not understanding?

That each and every one of us stands on God’s grace alone.

Of course it’s good to read your Bible, pray, fast, and all the rest. But notice the first word of all those sentences: “I.”

And our salvation, our Christian lives, rest on what Jesus did, not what we do.

When you talk with others, who do you point to?

Yourself?

Or Jesus?

Do you point to what you do?

Or what he did on the cross, and the grace he pours on you each day?

If you’re boasting about yourself, you’re no longer living by grace. And you’re no longer standing in awe of Jesus and his cross.

So let’s stop looking at ourselves and comparing ourselves with others. Instead, “let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (17)