What Others Think

11.28.2009

1 Thessalonians 2:6 6 “…nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.” New American Standard Bible

Many people see the value in being valued and while it is nice to be valued, value is not to be a currency to be sought by God’s people – it isn’t always worth all that much. Paul said that he and his companions did not seek glory from men because only to be thought well of by men as a goal is a very substandard goal in the Kingdom. (BTW, I always capitalize the word Kingdom when referring to the Kingdom of God.)

The gospel is not about glory from men; not their approval or their applause. The glory of the gospel is the approval of God in the salvation of souls in response to the message He gives. The messengers are just the messengers; and they are just messengers. God is the Author of salvation and He is worthy of all the praise and all the glory. We will do well to remember that – anything else demeans the truth…

Sharing my devotional thoughts can easily become about seeking approval – for me, sometimes it does. Sorry, it’s the truth; sometimes I am that shallow. But my motivation mostly is to get YOU (whoever you are) to read and think and maybe talk about God, salvation, and the truth with someone else – and maybe this is a way to get the pump primed. It is also a way for me to express what I see and to take whatever that happens to be into my heart and make it real by striving to live it in a manner as Paul said, worthy of the God who calls us. Whatever the case, I must not seek glory from anyone or anything, for that robs the meaning and retards the Message – that is something I think Paul the Apostle would have abhorred.

Father in Heaven,

It is all about You and Your truth and Your words and Your Kingdom; may I never ever forget that. I pray that these words, meager and faulty, would be of benefit to someone this day and that in response You would receive all the glory and all the praise – in Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.