"Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds without rain." Proverbs 25:14
Solomon was the wisest man to have ever lived. I believe it would benefit us to look at what he tells us in Proverbs with a sort of intrigue. He received His wisdom from God and then he put the wisdom he received from God to practical use. Solomon was a very hard worker and certainly a man of many exploits. He knew about kings and queens, protocol, cultures and societal differences. He was acquainted with complex national treatise as well as mining and construction. He was intelligent and full of wisdom. Solomon knew people.
In the Proverbs Solomon exhorts, rebukes and enlightens his readers. Again, Solomon knows people. In Solomons time in order to be accepted as an architect or a lumberjack, a statesman, a nurse, a prophet or a thief, you had to possess proven attributes of your talents or skills. They were tested by actions and results. Solomon had met many a fake in his time. There were those who claimed they were someone they weren't and they claimed to have skills they didn't have. They were examined, observed and scrutinized for honesty, integrity and substance. Those possessing their claim were given positions of authority and excellence and those who made false claims were dishonored and cast out to live a life of wandering and poverty.
Today people make all kinds of claims without consequence. Especially concerning spiritual gifting and prophesy. All of us have encountered the false prophet, the false Christian, the false minister and false healers. There's even another level of those who dabble in spiritism and make claims of talking to the dead, seeing into the future, reading tarot cards, reading palms, and making claims that they have certain powers. It is out of hand. The unlearned Christian has a great deal to overcome just to sift out truth from all the false teaching and false spiritual guides.
There really is no need to make a false claim about who you are or what you do. God made you and God has endowed you with certain gifts and skills and talents, personal to you. You were created with unique qualities and characteristics, propensities and proclivities. You are all that you need to be to enhance the world by your presence, just being yourself, doing what you do best. No one likes it when someone says one thing and does another, acts like they are something they are not or tries to act like they are an expert when they have little or no experience. Our society has allowed this to happen. But as mature Christians we need to take a serious look at ourselves and make sure that we are representing who we are, our skills and talents accurately and without exaggeration, amplification or over-embellishment.
Side note: What we like most about people is when they are down to earth. None of us like arrogance, egotism, pompousness or pretentiousness. Just be real. It is a God thing.
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