“But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:29
Praise of man is like a powerful and addictive medicine. Even a small amount can cause an overdose. How do we discern the overdose on man’s praise? There are a few questions that we need to ask ourselves to evaluate our heart condition on this issue:
- Before you agree to do any task, do you have a need to determine the visibility of the job?
- When you do it, are you hoping that someone will appreciate it or will put a good word for you?
- Will the quality of what you do be any different if you knew someone important will hear about it?
- Will you be discouraged or disappointed if you didn’t get any attention or encouragement for a job well done?
- If you do get any encouragement, does it warm your heart or does it exalt you?
- Do you feel sad or left out when others are praised in front of you?
- Do you find yourself behaving or speaking differently in front of someone depending on that person’s position or importance in your mind?
Any of the above could be a symptom of desiring man’s honor. If that’s the case, ask the Lord to cut off and circumcise any and every trace of that desire out of your heart. It will harm your heart towards God, and it can very easily derail you from God’s purpose for your life.
The Lord will allow us to have His honor as well as man’s honor. The Bible tells us that Jesus grew in stature and in favor with God and man. The issue is does man’s honor have first place in your life?
Paul said in Galatians 1:10b “For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
If our aim and goal in life is to please God and not look around, to see if we have man’s honor, we will eventually have man’s honor as well. Our chief goal cannot be to have man’s honor or to see who is noticing us, because that is not pleasing to the Lord. The wrong focus will also make one lose man’s honor for you might have to compromise your integrity at some point to keep man’s honor. God tests the heart and the character and in time it will be evident what really matters to us.
One of the significant questions we must ask ourselves is, “Do I only hear the Lord within the framework of what I think is acceptable by those I deem important”? If so, we may be in trouble!