The boaster!

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(John Colwell, "Little Foxes; The Little Sins That Mar the Christian Character" 1882)

"But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil." James 4:16

All that the boaster has to say revolves around one center, namely, SELF. The only really important part of speech in his grammar, is the first person singular. When he speaks of himself, which he too often does, it is always in such a way as to impress you with his virtues, his wisdom, or his greatness. And when he does not speak of himself--he elevates self, though it may be in a less direct manner.

The boaster is full of little histories, in which the historian or narrator is always the chief actor. His stock phrases will be painfully familiar to us all:
  "When I was in such a place."
  "When I was a young man."
  "I will tell you what I once did."
Every one of these expressions is the introduction to a long glorification of self.

Why should we employ ourselves in self-praise? "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? " 1 Corinthians 4:7

It is a hard and delicate subject for a man to speak of himself. Therefore, let him who aspires after wisdom take the advice of Scripture, "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." Proverbs 27:2

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