Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips. – Proverbs 27:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 10, 2016): Proverbs 27

“I've never been a fan of individual awards because football is such a team sport. There's so many things that goes into making plays. It's about teammates trusting one another and working together.” The words belong to Troy Polamalu, but the sentiment could have been spoken my many people playing American (or Canadian) Football – and it should be on the lips of anyone who has played any team sport. It is seldom the strongest player on the play of field that decides the outcome of the game. In a team sport, even the best players can’t be everywhere and do everything. It requires the team to win. So individual rewards seem to be, in some ways, nonsensical.

But on the other hand, life is a lot like a team sport. Maybe individual awards don’t make any sense anywhere. But what might be even worse is when it is the person that gives themselves the prize. Anytime someone begins to tell you how good they are, the rest of us quickly tire of the conversation. It is one thing for someone else to recognize your accomplishments, it is quite a different thing for you to praise yourself because of your own strengths. Even in a job application, the good things we say about ourselves must be well directed. I recently read a résumé that made the person sound like Superman. Even at things that had no impact on the job, this guy considered himself to be an expert. And all the résumé did was raise questions about what this person could really do.

Solomon simply says that not only is it a different thing, the act of praising yourself is also an unacceptable thing. And the reasoning behind the prohibition might be equally as easy. If our actions do not lead to others praising us for what we have done, then maybe our actions are not as worthy of praise as we might think.

To be honest, I am not sure that I want a medical doctor that has to continually remind me that he is a doctor – or that he is good at what he does. I should be able to see, by the advice that he gives me, that he has some expertise in the matter of my health. And if I am not sure, then maybe I need to find someone new to take care of my health.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 28