“How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44
In the above scripture, Jesus very clearly declared that we cannot be in a state of belief if we are more concerned with receiving honor from man than God. Paul stated something similar in
Galatians 1:10b: “For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
If we allow the approval of man to make us or break us, we have gone back to the slavery that we came from! Man’s approval or disapproval is a moving target, and it is only bound to cause insecurity in our hearts! The Lord will provide plenty of opportunities for criticisms and complements, and each of those can affect our hearts and shape our behavior if we let it. The test is there to teach us to resist desiring man’s honor and its false security. Instead, we have the privilege of seeking sure security which is found in God!
A desire to receive honor is not necessarily an evil desire. The scripture tells us that God will give honor in due season. It also exhorts us to honor those in authority and those serving among us. The key issue is not the desire for honor, but what are willing to do to receive the honor!?
This is very similar to having a desire to be in a courting relationship leading to marriage. Having a desire to be married is a God given desire, but are we willing to lose ourselves to be in a married relationship? Do we have to be with the person every free moment to ensure we have their attention? Do we settle for less in our spiritual standard and stay in an unequally yoked relationship? Do we compromise our purity to ensure we don’t lose the person?
Similarly, we can be tempted to draw attention to ourselves and compromise a Godly standard to receive honor from man and in the process displease the Lord. Honor is something that God gives to us; it is not something we have to strive to get. If we strive to have man’s honor, we are bound to make compromises in the process of getting it!
Jesus is our perfect example in receiving proper honor! He did not seek the honor of man. On the contrary, many times He walked away from the attention of man to focus on His purpose! If Jesus had looked for man’s honor, He could have asked His disciples to find Him a Stallion not a donkey to enter Jerusalem! He could have dressed in priestly garments and had phylacteries on to secure man’s honor as a religious leader. However, His focus was not on worldly honor; He only desired His Father’s honor, and that was enough for Him.
The Father was pleased to honor Jesus! As a result He allowed the Son to be honored and recognized by man for the work He did on the earth. Jesus will continue to be honored by people through eternity while the Pharisees went to the grave with their earthly honor!
Do we have the certainty of the Father’s approval? Are we living our lives for the audience of ONE?