#futuree

Don't brag about tomorrow,    since you don't know what the day will bring. Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth--    a stranger, not your own lips. - Proverbs 27:1-2

Humility is an essential and fundamental quality of the Christian life. It is essential and fundamental because of the position human beings have in the great scheme of things. God is the sovereign ruler over all creation. We exist in the creation that He made. Although He made us in His image and placed us in a position above all other creatures (Genesis 1:26-28), we are still subject to His divine providential control. He determines the story of creation and He determines the story of our lives within His creation.

True humility, then, recognizes and acknowledges the subservient place we have in the great scheme of things. Although we may think we know what the day will bring, we can make no guarantees. As the Proverb says, "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps" (Proverbs 16:9). And that's why James warned us not to boast about tomorrow. Instead, he said we should say, '"If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that"' (James 4:15). After all, unlike the sovereign and eternal God who controls all things, our lives are "like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone" (James 4:14).

The true humility that recognizes and acknowledges our subservient place also knows that boasting about one's accomplishments does not properly reflect our status in reality. Although there may be occasions when public acknowledgment of one's accomplishments is necessary for personal vindication or for the edification of others, as was the case with Paul and the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 11:12), gratuitous boasting has no place in God's Kingdom. We are dependent creatures. We are dependent upon God for everything we have and everything we are. Instead of boasting about ourselves, then, we should boast about God (2 Corinthians 10:17).

Paul said, "When people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them." (2 Corinthians 10:18). One of the ways that the Lord can do this is by having others ? strangers even ? praise us. And in the next life, of course, the Lord Himself will do the job personally (1 Corinthians 4:5).

We don't have to brag about tomorrow or praise ourselves. God can see to it that we get the acknowledgement and the encouragement we need.