According to the design of God, It is very normal for people to get excited when they are praised for their good works. Praise help to reinforce people’s productivity or may reduce their efficiency. This healthy positive reinforcement is a way of teaching people the importance of doing good and avoiding what’s wrong.
Between the praise given by human and that which is validated by God, which should be more valuable? Human praise fall short of authentic witnessing most times, but that which comes from God gives room for promoting genuine Christian life. In fact, when human praise is not based in the truth of God, it does great damage.
In the gospel of today, Jesus rebuked the Jews from relying on human praise and testimony instead of that which comes from God only. He differentiate between human testimony as against the testimony that comes from God. Human testimony or judgement is devoid of truthfulness, but that which comes from God is true and eternal. Jesus rejected human testimony because it is not founded in truth and urges us all to depend of the testimony that comes from God only (John 5:31-47).
The bottom line is that we must praise one another, but our praise must only be that which originates from God. Our words must be spoken only in accord with the Truth. Our admiration must only be of that which is the presence of God alive in others. Otherwise, if we praise others based on worldly or self-centred values, we only encourage them in sin.
Let us examine ourselves today. Do we allow misguided praise of others to misdirect our style of life? And when we compliment and praise another, is that praise based on the Truth of God and directed to His glory? Seek to give and receive praise only when it is grounded in the Truth of God and directs all to His glory. Peace be with you.
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