Since last night I have been thinking about the influence of
praise. I found myself asking this morning, "Does God praise people?".
If He does, does it suggest we too should be praising people? We know praise is
powerful. In the field of psychology, praise is necessary if not for
self-esteem sake. In the work place, praise motivates employees to work harder.
I guess when you, as an employee, is being praised for a job well done, you would
be elated because your efforts have been appreciated. But let's not forget, to
be appreciated and to be rewarded are two separate issues.
I am sure there are
books written on the power and necessity of praise. Maybe you have read one
too. BUT I am still wondering about the influence of praise. I've just briefly
mentioned the good side of it but what about the downside? To praise is to lend
motivation, to empower . The more you are being praised, the more motivated you
will be in pursuing that which you have
been praised for. Take Robin Hood for example. He's a thief. He resort to violence
and chaos. What he did was against the law of the land but the praise of the
poor empowers him to pursue his life of crime. Robin Hood did not think what he
did was wrong because he's being praised by the poor all the time. Robin
believed what he did was in fact good and right because people praised him for what he
did. Praise gave him the sense of justification. Praise assured him his actions were right and noble. It is because of praise Robin could not see the truth. And
I wonder how many Robin Hoods there are in jail cells today.
I ran
through some of the Scriptures today that supposedly indicate God praising
man. What I see is not so much as praising but more so of affirming. For
example, Genesis 7:1, "Then the Lord said
to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you
are righteous before me in this generation." Was God praising Noah or was He
affirming the fact that that he was a righteous man? Now righteousness is not a
result of man's doing. It's a position God reckon on that person. Because of
Jesus, we are righteous in the sight of God. It was never because of our own
works. Fact is, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Righteousness
is by God's act. It's called grace. We can strive to live a righteous life and
God saw that in Noah. He wasn't praising him. He was affirming the fact that
Noah was doing right by God which was his responsibility.
Praise is
indeed powerful. Praise encourages. Praise empowers. Praise creates Robin
Hoods. I don't know if you will be proud to be reckon a Robin Hood but I am
quite certain Robin didn't make it to heaven. Hahahaha. Ya, he's a cool guy. He's awesome
and skillful with the bow and arrow and helped the poor. But think about this.
If poverty is finally eradicated by Robin and all the citizens are no longer
poor but prosperous, do you think they will still want Robin to hang around? Here's
my take for today ...
Before you praise
someone, you need to understand the influence of praise. Man by nature is
self-centered. They naturally seek the praise and approval of others. That's
why Facebook works so well and is additive. People are craving for the
"likes" and emojis. The more 'likes" the more postings. The
posting are mainly centered on? Your guess is as good as mine. Careful now.
Praise appeals mostly to the Pharisees ... "for they loved human praise more than
praise from God." (John 12:43). Jesus
affirmed that more than two thousand years ago. Today, It is a proven fact that human
nature does not change. In fact, cannot change. That's why Jesus said mankind need to be "born again".
My point today? Instead of seeking the
praise of man, seek rather the praise of God. If you do right, God will affirm
your works. He will reward you accordingly. Lest you forget, you are s servant
of God and He is your master. He must increase and we must decrease and that
too for our sakes. Human love praise but cannot handle praise. It's more
necessary to offer praise to God than to man. But let's acknowledge each other.
Let' affirm each other's good works and let's all give all glory to God. I
can't handle praise but God can. If you were to praise me today, I'll just
return it to God and acknowledge God by saying, "God is indeed good".
Amen! Lest praise consume you, take apostle Paul's advice. In everything we do, do is as to the glory of God. Have a good day.
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