My lashing for the day…
“To become truer to myself, rather than preoccupied with my successes, will mean learning to live without the intoxication of the praise and affirmation of others.”
Charles Ringma from “Dare to Journey with Henri Nouwen”
… to live without the intoxication of the praise and affirmation of others.
I don’t think I need to say anything more.
Ouch!
and saying this was important…today….
it was 🙂
Just came across your blog, thanks to Pete’s retweet. Good stuff and synchronizes what we discussed in our men’s Bible study this morning on the legacy each of us leaves in the corporate workplace. The assertion (one that I’ve personally experienced) was was that more people will watch me in times of career challenge than when things are going great. And will watch how I handle it. Paul certainly saw that while he was in prison.
Thanks.
Bruce Eric
@Bruce – so glad to connect with you!
I agree with Pete. I’ve always been an approval seeker, but God has been showing me that the only, THE ONLY One whose approval I should even remotely care about is His. That can be two-sided, so I have to be careful to not go too far to the I-don’t-care-what-anyone-thinks side, too.
Thanks for sharing!
ugh. thank you for sharing! i so want this to be the desire of my heart!
And now to take the first bite of this nice Humble Pie.
But do we really? We buy the house and the clothes. Would we be willing to get rid of all the facades? Not be fashionable? No have a nice car? Live in a little humble house not a fancy house? Would we be willing to give up all the niceties that we buy for ourselves and give that money to the mission field for the Gospel of Christ. Once the window for missions closes souls are lost and those souls will spend eternity in suffering. What price are we really willing to pay?
Never thought I cared what people thought about me until the day came when I had my first “haters.” It rocked me. I then realized I had been living for their approval over that of my Maker.
Ouch!!
This really hurt!!
true!for!everyone!
we waste so much time looking for ways we can win over the masses. we are SO preoccupied. and when we don’t get the praises and affirmations that we seek & desire…we can allow it to stifle us. this is such a painful truth.
it is so amazing that Jesus will give us His full attention…and that we really don’t need anything more.
@Chad – you are so right. The first round of criticism is a huge hit. That’s when you really come to grips with your reliance on the praise and affirmation of others.
indeed, dying to self (especially if we've learned to live intoxicated by the praise and affirmation of others) is something we have to deal with for the rest of our life. surrendering to Christ is an arduous, long journey. God's grace be upon us all. thank you for sharing your thoughts