Bragging or boasting is endemic to human nature. We boast about our children and our grandchildren. We boast about our work. We boast about our athletic accomplishments. We boast about the places we’ve been and the things we’ve done. On this July 4, we boast about the land of our birth.

An American was staying in London. He was introduced to a man from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Scotchman asked him, “An’ what country do you belong tae?”

“The greatest country in the world!” replied the American.

“Mon! So dae I,” replied Scotsman, “but you donna speak like a Scotsman.”

It’s really quite human to brag about your school, about your team, about your family, about your country. However, St. Paul said on one occasion that there’s only one thing worth really boasting about and that is the cross on which Jesus Christ died. Paul writes, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”