Do not praise yourself


Proverbs 27:2 (NIV)
“Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider and not your own lips.”

We all know someone who will tell you how great they are at everything that they do. Then you see their work or you go do an activity with them and they are not even close to as good at it as they had told us. Talking yourself up can cause a lot of trouble. If you tell someone you are excellent at something and they hire you for the job, and you turn out to be below average, it will probably anger them, and you could easily get fired.

There have been things in my life that have humbled me quite a bit. Thinking I was the best in the #2 position in rugby, then playing against regional all-stars and being tested and bested. Thinking that I would get jobs and telling people about them, then not getting them. It is embarrassing when you talk yourself up and do not live up to the hype. I haven’t been “cocky” about very many things, but when I have, I have typically been humbled. It is not pleasant when you think you are great at something and then you are shown or told otherwise. It is much more unpleasant when you have praised yourself to or in front of others.

However if we approach things with a humble attitude and are praised by others it is a much greater feeling than praising yourself. Being humble does not mean that you cannot have confidence that you have done your best, or believing that you can do something. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines humble as “Not proud or haughty: Not arrogant or assertive.” The lesson here is to just do your best, work hard, and to let others be the one to praise you.

Challenge: Look at your actions, do you praise yourself, or are you humble?

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