Little Red Book Ministry

B. Set an example for others
As you mature in your Christian walk you may notice that new Christians are watching you. They are trying to learn what proper behavior for a Christian is. You must be careful not to lead them into bad habits. On the other hand, older Christians may become careless in their walk. Your careful walk with the Lord may be a reproach to them and cause them to straighten out their lives.

Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; 1 Peter 5:6

1. Don’t boast over accomplishments
When you achieve a great or exciting victory for the Lord, be careful not to boast about your spirituality and your value to the Kingdom of God. You may lose your heavenly reward if you receive it here on Earth (Matthew 6:1–6). Furthermore, it is up to God whether you should receive the praise of men for what you have done (1 Peter 5:6). You must remember that you can do nothing of value without the help of God (John 15:5). You are only the instrument or the tool that He has chosen to work with (Romans 6:13). A. W. Tozer, an excellent and well known Christian author Has written on pages 70–72 of his book, Man: The Dwelling Place of God, the following on this subject:

Boasting is particularly offensive when it is heard among the children of God, the one place above all others where it should never be found. Yet it is quite common among Christians, though disguised somewhat by the use of the stock expression, “I say this to the glory of God. . . .”

God is very patient with His children and often tolerates them in carnal traits so gross as to shock their fellow Christians. But that is only for a while. As more light comes to our hearts, and especially as we go on to new and advanced spiritual experiences, God begins to impose disciplines upon us to purge us from the same faults He tolerated before. Then He permits us to say and do things that react unfavorably against us and expose our vanity for what it is. It may then happen in the providential will of God that the very gift we have boasted of may be lost to us or the project we are so proud of will fail. After we have learned our lesson the lord may restore what He has taken away, for He is more concerned with our souls than with our service. But sometimes our boasting permanently hurts us and excludes us from blessings we might have enjoyed.