Vainglory is a vain display of perhaps a good attribute in ways that bring attention to ourselves and ultimately take attention away from God. It means to boast oneself, to be vainglorious, walking in vainglory, a bragger, and a self-display using embellishments. Vainglory is synonymous with pride, self-esteem, conceit, and vanity. God's Spirit of agape never produces vainglory because agape does not parade itself and is not puffed up. Vainglory manifests in subtle bragging such as always giving unsolicited opinions, pointing out the mistakes or flaws of others to feel superior, or posting on social media in ways that draw attention to oneself. It fuels a competitive spirit of ill will and hard feelings among brethren rather than uniting them in agape. Vainglory prepares the way for the production of sin by planting seeds of pride that lead to negative thoughts, attitudes, inclinations, and actions not aligned with God's Spirit of agape.

Vainglory is undue boasting about one's accomplishments. It is a synonym of pride along with self-esteem, conceit, and vanity. All of them can be encompassed within the single term pride. Pride manifests itself in disdain or haughtiness or arrogance toward others. Self-esteem gives more deference to one's opinions than others grant. Conceit is an exaggerated opinion of one's ability or worth. Vanity is seen as an excessive desire for admiration and praise.