From Bragging to Gratitude: Using God’s Gifts with Humility

Summary

Pride distorts our use of God-given gifts and turns gratitude into bragging. Through personal reflection and Scripture, boasting flows from insecurity and misdirects God’s resources. God alone deserves the glory for our abilities, status, and success. He calls believers to humility, faithful stewardship, and service to others, reminding us that we will one day give an account for how we used what He entrusted to us.

Using God's Gifts with Humility

Our view of our gifts, abilities, status, and positions underlies how we describe and exercise them. Do we come across as insufferably proud or humbly grateful to God for all He has provided? Pride comes naturally. Using God's gifts with humility grows as we mature spiritually and recognize everything as God’s gift.

Personal Success and the Temptation to Brag

Fifty years ago, I was proud to be an aquatic biologist with the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. I felt admired and imagined others wanted my position. Later, earning a record-breaking test score inflated my pride even more. These moments reveal how easily success feeds self-exaltation.

Why Bragging Reveals Insecurity

We share achievements to elevate our status in others’ eyes. Bragging is self-praise rooted in insecurity, not quiet confidence. Social media amplifies this tendency as people attempt to prove their lives are better than they really are.

Using God’s Gifts for Our Glory

We often feel inferior yet resist admitting it, so we subtly or openly boast. In doing so, we misuse God’s gifts for our own glory rather than His and fail to benefit others as He intended.

God’s Perspective on Pride and Humility

Everything we have comes from God, leaving no room for boasting. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Only His opinion truly matters, and one day we will give an account for how we used what He entrusted to us.

Serving Others with Gratitude and Faithfulness

God gifts each person for specific purposes and expects faithful stewardship. Spiritual gifts are given to serve others, not ourselves. With humility and gratitude, we are to invest our gifts diligently to advance God’s Kingdom and bless those He places in our care.

Photo: Image Creator (microsoft.com)