Cooking is a passion of mine. I love finding new recipes, and making intricate meals from scratch. I’m a recipe follower, so when a dish comes out amazing, I’m thrilled, but not boastful. I find cooking humbling. It’s a lot of work, and requires a lot of patience. However, I have an acquaintance that is rather boastful. When I would share about my successful dishes, he would go on and on about his version of the same dish, how it was so much better, looked better, and probably tasted better. He was obnoxious and excessively prideful. He would make me feel less than, and eventually I stopped sharing.

It’s okay to feel proud of your work. I’ve made some delicious dinners that I’m proud of. I’ve also crocheted some beautiful blankets that I’m very proud of. I feel proud, but I don’t take it to the next level, and become prideful. I’m not the best crocheter, and I’m not the best cook. I don’t need to be. Feeling proud of our accomplishments is great, we should be. We should not turn it around and become excessive in our pride, and put others down, make them feel incompetent, and small. That’s not a loving thing to do.

Boasting is such an ugly behavior. It is rooted in loneliness, and selfishness. People that are boastful are in competition with everyone, they are unhappy, and typically pretty miserable. I have been that person before, and I was absolutely lonely and miserable, though I wouldn’t admit it. People hated being around me. I was doing an awful job of showing people I love them. I don’t want people to go down my path, it’s filled with loss and self-destruction. I want better for you. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not boast.