Boasting

I have been thinking a lot about my own arrogance in my past and even in today. In my past, I had seen myself as superior to my peers, hampering my social life and frankly, just making me depressed. Fortunately, I have moved beyond the form of arrogance where everyone is an untouchable that is not meant to be mingled with. (Well, I like to think so. I still don't care much for the partying/clubbing scene and consider the act of getting drunk just sheer stupidity. But I don't count that as arrogance so much as me not wanting to be associated with an activity.)

The problem is I still love to boast of myself. Anyone who has had a conversation with me has invariably hear me discuss how I'm a year ahead and will graduate CSUN at the ripe old age of 20. I do boast a lot of my 3.9 GPA as well. In general, I do tend to talk a bit about how smart I am and I take great pride in my accomplishments.

Being proud of one's achievements is one thing, but as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:31 "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord." I need to keep in consideration that my accomplishments are all from the Lord's mercy, not because I'm so great. I do need to recognize that it is an achievement I will attain, but I can't use it as a point to demean others or to gain a sense of superiority over others. The last thing I want to do is to feel like I'm better than everyone else. The Lord put me in a situation I took advantage of, but that doesn't make me any better than everyone else.

Two people helped me realize my folly and helped me realize that everyone has their own achievements. I am not better than the person next to me because I graduate CSUN early. These two people didn't tell me "Cody, you need to shut up" or anything along their lines. It was their own accomplishments that made me realize I needed to stop my own boasting. It was just hearing their stories that allowed me to see that I should not unneccesarily build myself up. One person was telling me about how he graduated from high school at the age of 16 and was the head editor at his high school paper, gaining a scholarship to a university across the country. The other person told me that they had research papers published, interned at an executive agency, and served in local gov't in high school. They are both slightly older than me (literally within a year or two older than me) These two people had no reason to lie to me and frankly, compared to those accomplishments, early graduation from CSUN is not that spectacular.

But that does not mean I am going to roll up in a fetal position and just give up an accept that everyone is better than me. It's a reminder than in law school, I need to be active on campus, not content for a high GPA. These two people weren't in a position of boasting. They were just telling me details about their lives. That's where I need to be. Not in a position of superiority, but in a position to allow the Lord to move to give me accomplishments. These accomplishments would not be to boast. These accomplishments will be a part of my story, a story where I can tell people about my life and not have them be bored within minutes.