Meditations

”Be careful not to perform your righteous deeds in front of others for the purpose of being noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give charitably, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly, truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” (Matt 6:1-2)

Biblical scholars teach us of horizontal and vertical ways of success and acclaim. “Do you remember playing with other kids either in your neighborhood or at school? It was quite one thing to do or say something unkind and not think much about it until someone said the terrifying words, ‘I’m telling!’ As kids, our ‘horizontal’ relationships are of some importance to us, but even at that early age we understand that the eyes of a higher authority, those that are in a ‘vertical’ relationship, are the ones which we are most worried about. And then sadly, as we grow older, the vertical and horizontal relationships begin to trade places in importance to us. It is an intensely human effort and a quest we all pursue. We all want to feel good about ourselves. We all want to hear others tell us we’re special.” (Alistair Begg)

But looking to people for your inner self-worth is pointless. “You will never be good enough to get the regular praise of others. You’re going to mess up. You’re bound to disappoint. We all have bad days and we all have our shortcomings. Success on the level of world standards is always followed by failure. It isn’t long before you’re searching for the next success to keep you going. How can we escape this drive for public acclaim? Live as if you were living for the pleasure of One witness. Live as if your very next breath depended upon the gift of one Giver. Live as if your righteousness will never justify your passing through the heavenly gates. Jesus’ righteousness becomes your robe if and only if He is your Redeemer. If you want that kind of life of abundant joy with Him, you will forget the drive for perfect horizontal relationships and trust in the One vertical relationship that allows you eternal security.” (Paul D. Tripp) With Jesus we are more than briefly successful, we are eternally victorious through the One who loved us first! (1 John 4:15-19 and Rom 8:32-39)

David