May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! Gal 6:14-18

In today’s reading, the Apostle Paul’s authority is again being challenged, and Paul again shows us the Christian way to deal with such challenges. Don’t react, don’t tear others down, don’t puff yourself up.  As he puts it; “may I never boast of anything except the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Boasting is one of those things that we all do, but is so close to us we have a hard time seeing it and the damage it can do. But it’s easy to see in others. A new kid in Narek’s basketball league was bragging about what a great player he was.  Coach put him in the game, he ran without dribbling and took a shot which literally went over the entire backboard. Kids are very transparent, so we can learn much from them. This boy was feeling insecure about playing basketball, so he boasted to get approval from others that he couldn’t give himself.