Being praised
Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised. Proverbs 27:21
I wonder how you respond when someone praises you. Perhaps you are being praised for your excellent work, sporting skills, kindness or reliability. The writer of Proverbs makes the interesting observation that such praise is as critical a test of character as fire testing precious metals. That is to say, praise will expose the kind of person that you really are.
There are basically three things that you can do with praise. The first option is to open wide and drink it all in. This is a dangerous path because it is likely to go to your head. It could inflate your understanding of yourself to the point that you become arrogant and unbearable to live with. The second option is to do everything you can to deny the plaudits and suggest that they have got it all wrong. This might sound like a humble approach but it could easily come across as arrogant and rude.
The best way to handle praise is to acknowledge it gratefully and to use it as an opportunity to review your life and your relationship with the Lord. It could be that the praise will help you to understand where your gifts really are. When I first started preaching, I was a teenager and was totally unsure of myself. The response from the people who heard me preach was crucial. If they had been negative and critical I probably wouldn’t have preached another sermon. However, their encouragement and praise has encouraged me to keep doing it!
But, above all, praise needs to encourage us to look to the one who gave us our gifts in the first place. Any gift, flair or ability we have has come to us as a gift from God. We need to make sure that he is the one who gets the main credit for anything that we achieve.
QUESTION
How do you respond when people praise you?
PRAYER
Lord God, I thank you for the abilities and strengths that you have given me. Help me never to forget that they have come to me as a gift from your hands. Amen