2 Corinthians 10:17,18 – “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
Right from childhood, we’ve somehow been tuned to live for the praises of others. Parents ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ when babies do something new. Teachers applaud kids who perform better than their peers. Graduates who get jobs while in college are praised by the faculty. Employees who achieve targets are held as the standard for the rest of the team.
While we do have to perform our best in every area of our lives, we cannot aim for perfection. There are some places we may fall short. No matter how hard we work, the promotion may go to someone who (in our eyes) may not be as deserving. The authorities may seem blind to everything we’re doing to impress them. Sometimes, life does not line up perfectly for us.
In those circumstances, we need to look at the only One we can boast about. We can boast about the fact that our Father is the King of kings and Lord of lords. We can be proud to serve Him with what we have. We can remind ourselves that man looks at the outside but God looks at the heart. While we do our best to excel in the world, may we always remember that the best commendation we can receive is from God alone. Let us strive to live in a manner that is pleasing to our Maker!
