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Human Praise

March 26th, 2009 Posted in :60 Reflections

In today’s first reading from Exodus 32, Moses has a little heart-to-heart with God, asking Him to relent from destroying His people. And God relented. A wonderful statement on the power of prayer. And in the Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus talks about accepting praise. He says, “I do not accept human praise.” And to the Jews, He says, “How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?”

Jesus didn’t need praise or approval from other people. In fact, quite the contrary. He said an awful lot of things that ticked off an awful lot of people. But it didn’t matter to Him. He knew He was doing the Father’s will. And that was His ultimate motivation.

So, what’s your motivation? I can honestly say that I struggle with this a lot. I want to be liked. I don’t like upsetting the old apple cart. Too often I seek the approval of people, even if God has a different idea of what I should be doing or saying. To be more like Christ, we need to seek the praise that comes from the only God.

Father, forgive us for those times when we turn our backs on you, just to win the approval of people. Show us today Your will, and give us the grace to accomplish it, regardless of what others think. Amen.

Today’s Readings

  1. One Response to “Human Praise”

  2. By Rod on Mar 26, 2009

    Gus, I’ve been labeled a people pleaser. I too , want to be approved of and be held in esteem, but I would rather be held in esteem by God by being honest and truthful, even when it hurts. The problem is that if negative or critical comments are made of someone and not directly to their face, I’m told that that becomes gossip which, by the way is sinful. If I say”President Obama’s views on life are by in large, evil”, that is not gossip, that is honest opinion of the facts. However, if I say that my neighbor voted for Obama and therefore his views on life are evil, I may have stepped over the line. Bottom line is this. When we are trying to be honest , we also need to be thoughtful about what we are saying and why we are saying it. Does our statement support a Godly principle and does the desired outcome serve to evangelize or divide.
    God Bless,
    Rod

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